I^ALKS IN A FOREST: 

O R, 

POEMS 

DESCRIPTIVE OF SCENERY AND INCIDENTS 
CHARACTERISTIC OF 

A FOREST, 

AT DIFFERENT SEASONS OF THE TEAR. 

By THOMAS GISBORNE, M. A. 

n 
THE FIFTH EDITION, CORRECTED* 



', Poeticse propofitum aut duplex, aut ex duobus alterum, 
jilgo ftatuitur ; nimirum aut ProdefTe, aut Delegare, aut etiam 
ftrumque. Mallem equidem Utilitatem folumtnodo, quad 
Itimum ejus finem, ftatuifTent ; Delettationem vero, quafi 
.itionem & viam, per quam ad iflum finem unice perveniret : 
ft ut judicaretur ProdefTe Dele£tando a 

Lowth, De Sacra Poefi Hebr 



LONDON: 

Printed by A. Strahan, Printers Street, 
FOR T. CADELL JUN. AND W. DAVIE S, IN THE STRAND 

l80I. 




?1? 4"? 1 

.a 



r 



% 



?° 



TO THE 



Rev. WILLIAM MASON, 

OF ASTON, TORKSHIRE, 



THE FOLLOWING 



POEMS 



ARE INSCRIBED 



BY HIS OBLIGED AND 



AFFECTIONATE FRIEND, 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 

1 HE fcenes and incidents noticed in 
the fubfequent Poems are fuch, with fome 
exceptions, introduced by way of contrail, 
as occur in the Forefts of Great Britain. 
The Author has endeavoured to delineate 
them with fuch a degree of particularity 
as might mark the charadteriftic features 
of each ; and to avoid on the one hand 
florid and indeterminate defcription, and 
on the other, that minutenefs of detail 
which would be fcarcely intelligible to 
perfons not accuftomed ftudioufly to 
examine the face of nature, and might 
prove tedious even to accurate obfervers. 
He has alfo had in view another objeft 
which he willingly avows ; namely, to in- 
culcate, on every fit occafion, thofe moral 



VI PREFACE. 



truths, which the contemplation of the 
works of God in the natural world 
fuggefts, and that reverence and love for 
the great Creator which it is adapted to 
infpire. He trufts therefore that, not 
only when occupied in a profeffed enquiry 
into human duties, but alfo when engaged 
in compofing the following pages, he 
has been employed in his proper vocation. 
And he would gladly hope that the pre- 
fent performance may tend to infufe into 
the minds of perfons who delight in na- 
tural fcenery, and efpecially of the young, 
thofe momentous principles, the influence 
of which, whether he folicits attention in 
profe or in verfe, he is chiefly anxious 
to promote. 

Yoxall Lodge, 
December 2, 1795. 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

WALK THE FIRST. SPRING - - I 

WALK THE SECOND. SUMMER NOON - 2J 

WALK THE THIRD. SUMMER MOONLIGHT 41 

WALK THE FOURTH. AUTUMN 6l 

WALK THE FIFTH. WINTER SNOW - 89 

WALK THE SIXTH. WINTER — FROST. 99 



ERRATA. 

Page ii line 9 dele the comma after " combined" 
12 — 10 for " protentous" read w portentous" 
39 "™ 3 f° r tl primaeval" read " primeval" 
46—23 for i( battle" read beetle" 
47—4 for " withering" read " whirring'' 
92 — laft, put a colon after il eve" 
95 — for " prefentcd" read " prefented" 
io 1 — 16 inftead of a period put a colon after 
" mows" 



WALK THE FIRST. 



y 






ARGUMENT. 

An ancient Poet's Companion of the fuppofed Non-exiftence of 

Man after Death with the vernal Revival of the Vegetable 
Woilc! — The Leflbn which ought to have been deduced from 
that Revival — Appearance: of a Foreft in May — Foreft Tfees— 
The Angler — Foreft Flowers — Analogy between the Diverfity 
of* Vegetable Productions and the Diverfity of Human Talents 
— Foreft Birds — Addrefs to Parents — Deer — Cattle from the 
Highlands of Scotland, and their attendant Herdfman — Bene- 
fits of the Union of England and Scotland — The Herdfman's 
Hiftory — Fall of Timber—Charcoal-burners — Nature provides 
for the Succeffion of Trees — Comparative Freedom of Foreft 
Trees, and of Trees taken under the more immediate Control 
of Man — This Subject illuftrated by a Ccmparifon between the 
State of the People of Great Britain and that of the Hindoos- 
Duty of the former towards the latter. 



WALKS IN A FOREST. 



WALK THE FIRST. 



SPRING- 






1 he meaneft * herb we trample In the field, 
" Or in the garden nurture, when Its leaf 
" In Autumn dies, forebodes another Spring, 
* 4 x^nd from fhort {lumber wakes to life again. 
u Man wakes no more ! Man, peerlefs, valiant, wife, 
" Once chiird by death, deeps hopelefs in the dud, 
" A long, unbroken, never-ending ileep i" 



* 



H t« X^~Z CC o"=Xtya, to t EuQaKzg &\ov av>j0ov, 

Tt'zpov tzv ^k'ovl*, x.ca uc sro: ccXXo $vo~U. 

Auui; o oi psyaXw, Ktyi xagTepoi, n cro$oi xy$gs$ 3 

Vyjjou-: iv p%h& pxKpVy alcp^ova, wpygelov vkvov* 

Mcschus, in Epitaph. Bion. 
B 2 



WALKS IN A FOREST. 



Such was thy plaint, untutor'd bard, when May, 

As now, the lawns reviv'd ! 'Twas thine to rove 

Darkling, ere yet * from Death's reluctant fhade, 

In cloudlefs majefty, the Son of God 

Sprang glorious ; while Hell's Ruler, he who late, 

With frantic feoffs of triumph, to his powers 

Pointed the fad proceffion as it moved 

From Calvary to the yet unclofed tomb, 

Saw the grave yield its Conqueror;* and aghaft, 

Shunn'd, in the deepeft: midnight of his realms, 

The wrath of earth's and heaven's Almighty Lord. 

Said the defponding lay, * c Man wakes no more \' 9 
O blind ! who read'il not in the teeming foil, 
The frefhemng meadow, and the burfling wood, 
A nobler leflbn ! — He., who fpake the word, 
And the fun rofe from Chaos, while the abyfs 
From the new fires with fhuddering furge recoil'd ; 
He, at whofe voice the moon's nocturnal beam, 
And ftarry legions, on the admiring earth 
Rain'd luftre ; He, whofe providence the change 
Of day and night and feafons crowri'd with food 



* Mofchus flourished about two hundred years before the 
Chriftian.^era, 



SPRING. 



And health and peace proclaimed ; bade Nature's hand 

Point to the fcenes of dim futurity. 

He on a world, in Gentile darknefs loft, 

Pitying look'd down : He to bewilder'd man 

Bade Spring, with annual admonition, hold 

Her emblematic taper ; not with light 

Potent each fhade of doubt and fear to chafe,- 

Yet friendly through the gloom to guide his way, 

'Till the dawn crimfon'd, and the impatient Eaft, 

Shouting for joy, the Day-ftar's advent hail'd. 

That ftar has rifen, and with a glow that fharaes 
The fun ? s meridian fplendor, has illumed 
The diftant wonders of eternity. 
Yet may this fylvan wild, from winter's grafp 
Now refcued, bid the foul, on loftieft hopes 
Mufing elate, anticipate the hour * 
When, at the Archangel's voice,- the {lumbering dull 
Shall wake, nor earth nor fea withhold her dead : 



* " Vide quam in folatium noftri refurreclionem futuram 
omnis natura meditetur. Sol demergit & nafcitur; aftra labuntur 
& redeuntj flores occidunt & revivifcunt ; poll fenium arbufta 
frondefcunt $ femina non nifi corrupta revirefcunt. lta corpus in 
faeculo, ut. arbores in hiberno occultant virorem sriditate mentita. 
Quid feftinas ut cruda adhuc hyeme revivifcat & redeat r Expec- 
tandum nobis etiam corporis ver eft."— Minucius Felix, 

B 3 



WALKS IN A FOREST, 



When ftarting at the crafh of burfting tombs, 
Of maufoleums rent, and pyramids 
Heaved from their bafe, the tyrant of the grave* 
Propt on his broken fceptre, while the crown 
Falls from his head, beholds hrs prifon-liouie 
Emptied of all its habitants ; beholds 
Mortal in immortality abforbM, 
Corruptible in incorruption loft. 

How fwells the enraptured bofom, while the eye 
Wanders unfated with delight from made 
To made, from grove to thicket, from near groups- 
To yon primeval woods with darkening fweep 
Retiring ; and with beauty fees the whole 
Kindle,' and glow with renovated life ! 
For now, at Spring's reanimating call, 
Each native of the foreft, from the trunk 
Towering and huge down to the tangled bufli, 
Its own peculiar character refumes. 
Chief of the fylvan realms, its verdant wreath 
With tender olive ftain'd the oak protrudes,. 
Proud of a fhelter'd monarch, proud to lend 
A chaplet ftill to Britifh loyalty* 
Even yet with ruddy fpoils from autumn won 
Loaded, the beech its lengthen'd buds untwines- 
Its knotted bloom fecured, the afh puts forth 



SPRING. 



The winged leaf : the hawthorn wraps its boughs 
In fnowy mantle : from the vivid greens 
That mine around, the holly, winter's pride* 
Recedes abafh'd : the willow, in yon vale, 
Its filver lining to the breeze upturns ; 
And ruftling afpens fhiver by the brook ; 
While the unfullied ftream, from April mowers 
Refined, each fparkling pebble Ihews that decks 
The bottom : and each fcaly habitant 
Quick glancing in the mallows, or in queft 
Of plunder flowly failing in the deep- 
There oft at eve, by fhadowing alders veil'd 
From keen- eyed trouts, fix'd where the fable flood 
Mantled with foam, with twilled roots o'erhung,- 
Portends a giant prey, the angler drops 
His fly in quivering circles on the pool 
Fluttering with mimic wings ; then, while his hand 
Trembles with hope, beholds, ill-omen'd fight, 
That tells of dire misfortune ! fractured lines 
Dependent, or in complicated folds 
Linking the tangled boughs that fweep the fiream,. 
And rife and fall with every paffing wave- 
Beneath the fylvan canopy, the ground 
Glitters with flowery dyes : the primrofe, firft 
la moffy dell returning Spring to greet i 

H 



WALKS IN A FOREST, 



Pilewort, that o'er her roots of old renown 

Expands the radiance of her ftarry bloom : 

Arum, that in a mantling hood conceals 

Her fanguine club, and fpreads her fpotted leaf 

Arm'd with keen tortures for the unwary tongue : 

Anemone *, now robed in virgin white, 

Now blufhing with faint crimfon : fraudful fpurge f , 

That feeks in beauty's garb her fnares to hide, 

In milky ftream her poifon veils, her ftem 

In ruddy mantle wraps, and from a zone 

Of duiky foliage elevates more bright 

Her creft of gold : forrel J, that hangs her cups, 

Ere their frail form and ftreaky veins decay, 

O'er her pale verdure, till parental care 

Inclines the fhortening ftems, and to the (hade 

Of clofing leaves her infant race withdraws : 

Orchis § with crowded pyramids the bank 



* Wood anemone. Anemone nemorofa Linn, 

f Wood fpurge. Euphorbia amygdaioicies Linn. 

% Wood foirel. Oxalis acetofa Linn. This plant, as foon as 
its petals have fallen off, thrufts its feed-veflels, with a motion in 
appearance almoft voluntary, under the contiguous leaves j th& 
foot-ftalk, which till then had been ftraight, bending itfelf back 
in a (harp angle, and thus bringing down its charge to the Shelter 
provided by nature. 

§ Orchis mafcula Linn. Wood orchis. 



SPRING. 



,_ 



Purpling : the harebell, as with grief depreft, 
Bowing her fragrance : and the fcentlefs plant % 
That with the violet's borrow'd form and hue 
The unfkilful wanderer in the fhade deceives. 

In fize, in form, in texture, and in ufe, 
How various are the tribes whofe verdure warms 
And decorates the earth ! Some from the wild 
Untrack'd by foot of man, from mountain glens, 
And rifted precipices ftarting, urge 
Aloft their tapering boles and knotted ftrength, 
Deftined with fleets to fpread the main, or build 
Engines, whofe ponderous and convulfive ftrokes 
Thundering fhallrock the ground. With penfile boughs 
Some droop o'er willowy ftreams, and yield their growth 
For humbler fervice. Some in graffy pile 
And flowery broidure clad, with fragrance cheer, 
With food fuftain, the animated world. 
Yet all one forming hand, one fource fupreme, 
Own mid diftinctions infinite, one Lord, 
Boundlefs in might, in wifdom, and in love ; 
And as his eye with vivifying beam 
Smiles, or the golden flood of life withdraws, 



* Dog's violet, Viola canina Linn, 



IO WALKS IN A FOREST, 

Flourifh or fade* PJans of concordant aim 

Speak the fame Author. Mark the varied dower « 

Of talents given to men- Thefe trace the laws 

That bind the planet to its orb, and heave 

The billowy tide* The helm of empire thofe 

Rule, in the ftorm ferene \ or poife the leaks 

Of juftice ; or when mad ambition feoffs 

The facred league, nor recks the landmark, hurl 

The long^fufpended thunderbolt of war* 

Some in tranflucent narrative recall 

Paft ages, or in vifionary fong 

Heroic worth pourtray. Inventive, feme 

Call art the paths of life with needful aid 

To fmooth, or grace with ornament. Some ply 

The fpade and ploughfhare, fkilful to foreknow 

What beft each foil may yield. Vain of his powers, 

Thee, the great Giver, thee, Parent of good, 

Man overlooks or fcorns. Thy feveral gifts, 

Harmonious though diffimilar, all confpire 

To fwell the fum of general blifs, all work 

Thy glory ; all well pleafing in thy fight, 

Who bad'ft the children of the dull perform 

Each his peculiar office, and combin'd 

In one vaft family with fraternal love, 

Lend mutual aid* and praife their common God. 



SPRING. 12 



While thus the imprtfon'd leaves and waking flowers 
Burft from their tombs, the birds that lurkM unfeen 
Amid the hybernal fhade, in bufy tribes 
Pour their forgotten multitudes, and catch 
New life, new rapture, from the fmile of Spring, 
The oak's dark canopy, the mofs-grown thorns, 
Flutter with hurried pinions, and refound 
With notes that fuit a foreft ; fome perchance, 
Rude fingly, yet with fweeter notes combined, 
In unifon harmonious ; notes that fpeak, 
In language vocal to the liftening wood, 
The fears and hopes, the griefs and joys, that heave 
The featherM breaft. Proud of ccerulean ftains 
From heaven's unfull'ied arch purloin'd, the jay 
Screams hoarfe. With fhrill and oft-repeated cry. 
Her angular courfe, alternate rife and fall, 
The woodpecker prolongs ; then to the trunk 
Clofe clinging, with unwearied beak affails 
The hollow bark ; through every cell the ftrokes 
Roll the dire echoes that from wintry fleep 
Awake her infect prey ; the alarmed tribes 
Start from each chink that bores the mouldering Hem : 
Their fcatter'd flight with lengthening tongue the foe 
Purfues ; joy gliftens on her verdant plumes, 
And brighter fcarlet fparkles on her creft. 
From bough to bough the reftlefs magpie roves, 



12 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

And chatters as fhe flies. In fober brown 
Dreft, but with nature's tendered pencil touch'd, 
The wryneck her monotonous complaint 
Continues ; harbinger * of her who, doom'd 
Never the fympathetic joy to know 
That warms the mother cowering o'er her young, 
A ftranger robs, and to that Granger's love 
Her egg commits unnatural : the nurfe, 
Unwitting of the change, her nettling feeds 
With toil augmented ; its protentous throat 
Wondering fhe views with ceafelefs hunger gape, 
Starts at the glare of its capacious eyes, 
Its giant bulk, and wings of hues unknown. 
Meanwhile the little fongfters, prompt to cheer 
Their mates clofe brooding in the brake below, 
Strain their fhrill throats ; or, with parental care, 
From twig to twig their timid offspring lead ; 
Teach them to feize the unwary gnat, to poife 
Their pinions, in fhort flights their ftrength to prove, 
And venturous truft the bofom of the air. 



* The Welfh conficier this bird as the forerunner or fervant of 
the cuckoo, and call it gwas y gog, or the cuckoo's attendant. 
The Swedes regard it in the fame light. Pennant's Brit. Zool. 
4th edit. vol. i. p. 238. Jn the midland counties of England, the 
common people call it the cuckoo's maiden. 



SPRING. Ij| 



O ye ! whofe knees a youthful progeny climbs, 
While mirth^ the fruit of innocence and love, 
Dimples their cheeks, and fhuts their laughing eyes, 
Think on your charge ! Faft as the expanding mind 
Imbibes the leffon, from her fount above 
Bid Truth in ampler ftream infufe her lore. 
Leave not, in vernal dawn when life invokes 
Your culturing hand, the vacant field a prey 
To weeds quick fprouting : plant w r ith earlied care 
The feeds you mod defire fhould fill the foil : 
And nurfe, with zeal proportioned to its worth, 
Each riling produce. Teach your infant race, 
That 'tis not theirs, like fongfters of the grove, 
Born but to fport and flutter for a day, 
To dote on vain and tranfitory joys. 
Teach them the harder nobler talk decreed 
To prove the fons of Adam. Teach them love 
Supreme of God, and, next to God, of man. * 
Teach them 'cis theirs, in arduous conflict ranged 
'Gainft Sin and Powers of Darknefs, to make known 
Their firm allegiance to the King of Kings. 

I Teach them, though weak, to triumph in the flrength 

' Omnipotence, fpecTator of the war, 

1 At fupplication's cry delights to yield 
The faithful combatant ; while Heaven fpreads wide 



J^ WALKS IN A FOREST. 

' - ■ - TE 

Her glories, and difplays the victor's crown, 
A crown eternal ; and beneath, Hell yawns 
Infatiate, thunders through each quivering gulf, 
And heaves her floods of ever-during fire. 

Nor want thefe lawns that terminate the woods 
Their cenants. O'er the gorfe the fportive deer 
Vault with elaftie bound, and fweep the plain 
In mock purfuiu Pour'd from the neighbouring farms, 
O'er their new realms, with broad inquiring gaze, 
The wide-fpread cattle ftray. Behold yon herd 
Dragging, as worn with toil, the heavy ftcp, 
Or ftretch'd innumerous in recumbent eafe : 
Mark the unguarded front, the {lender limb, 
The tawny ear, the fable-vefted fide. 
From Scotian hills they come. There were they wont 
To pick from rocky chinks the blade, and crop 
The faplefs twigs of heath ; there, fchool'd in arts 
Taught by neceflity, with docile feet 
Uplifted and again defcending quick, 
The frubborn furze they bruifed, and of its arms, 
Pungent in vain, defpoil'd their wintry fare : 
Or in the ftormy Hebrides forlorn, 
Rufh'd duly from the moor, fcenting afar * 

* See Pennant's Voyage to the Hebrides, 4to. 1774? p. 308; 
and Lightfoot's Flora Scotica, vol. ii. p. 906. 



, 



SPRING. I5 



The ebbing tide ; and prowling on the fand, 
And o'er the flippery ftones, with weeds marine 
And ocean's refufe famine's rage repell'd. 
Now to gay funs and fields of plenty brought, 
Their driver quits them ; he who, deckM in plaid 
And plumed bonnet, had their fteps purfued, 
While flocking children gaz'd and wonder'd loud, 
All the long tedious march ; and ftill, when fhowers 
Beat fleety, round his limbs regardlefs wrapt 
His chequer'd covering ; and when crofs the road 
A bright rill hurried, from the knapiack drew 
His bowl and oaten flour, and frugal mix'd 
The food delicious to his palate braced 
By labour, and by luxury unpall'd. 

How bleft thy counfels, Policy, infpir'd 
By Wifdom, Juftice, Mercy ! At thy nod, 
Contiguous kingdoms, once by rival aims 
And favage feuds disjoin'd, and mutual wrong, 
Like kindred drops of living filver blend 
In one congenial mafs. Their bordering plains 
No more with piles of flaughter'd warriors heap'd^ 
Invaders and invaded, nor illum'd 
By midnight gleams from hamlets waked by fhout 
Of dire incurfion fpreading flames and death, 
Smile grateful. Mouldering on its craggy bafe, 



l6 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Its ufelefs towers unvifited by man, 
Years of alarm, of conflict, and of woe 
The caftellated manfion fcarce records. 
O'er the rude ftorms that vex'd a jarring ifle 
Her veil Oblivion draws : refentment, hate, 
In filence with the buried warrior fleep. 
Hence with a filler's love, her wealth, her arts, 
Albion to Thule's utmoft beach, to feas 
That round Hebridian cliffs rebellow, yields 
Unfparing. Hence yon herdfman, he whofe fires 
Trod not on Englifh ground but fire and blood 
And rapine mark'd their fteps, from Thule's beach 
And Hebrid cliffs the pledge of concord bears, 
And pours o'er Mercian * vales the annual joy. 

Far other toils his early youth engag'd, 
When with unequal hands the huge clymore f 



* The ancient kingdom of Mercia comprehended feventeen of 
the middle counties of England. 

•j* The great two-handed broad-fwcrd of the Highlanders, ufed 
from ancient times down to the battle of KJllicrankie ; and pro- 
bably of the fame kind with the " ingentes gladii," which Tacitus 
defcribes the Caledonians as employing at the battle of the Gram- 
pian Hills. The target was commonly uied in conjunction with 
it. See Pennant's Voyage to the Hebrides, 4-to. 1774, P* a ^9> 
290 j and his Tour in Scotland, 4to. 3d edit. p. 191 5 and Part 2d, 
4to. 1776, Additions at the end, p. 28. 



SPRING- 17 



Staggering he ftrove to whirl, and fcarce upheld 
The target's weight. Oft have I feen his fears, 
And often have I liften'd to his tale. 
Him uninform'd attachment to his chief, 
That chief mifguided loyalty, arranged 
Beneath Rebellion's ftandard. At thy frowii, 
Infulted Albion, on Culloden's plain 
Each frantic hope expired I With terror wing'd, 
Through pathlefs folitudes the chieftain fled 
The hot purfuit ; together fled the youth 
Breathlefs and pale, nor reck'd the throbbing wound. 
JLong were the hours, O Morvern ! ere thy beach, 

• Way-worn, with tottering fpeed they trod, and gazed 
Impatient for the bark, ordain'd to plow 

Thy unfrequented billows,, if mifchance 

Should blight their enterprize : as he who, ftretch'd 

Sleeplefs and toiling on his feverifti bed, 

Pants for the dawn, and to the adverfe wall 

Still turns his wearied fight, eager to catch 

• The fir ft pale ray that mitigates the gloom, 
And tells of twilight's birth. Four tedious days 
Each formlefs fpeck, that on the horizon's verge 
Hover'd obfeure, with ftraining eyes they watch'd 
From morn to lateft eve ; whether the moon 
Bade ocean his recoiling floods abforb, 

Or hurl'd the deluge on the expecting fliore 

c 



1 8 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

The fifth morn rofe : a bark drew nigh : the chief, 
High on a rock projecting o'er the deep, 
The appointed fignal waved. — At once the cliffs 
Rebellowing fhook.— -The foes, who on his track 
With vengeful wile had hung, noted their prey, 
And Jaunch'd the murderous bullet. Prone he fell ; 
And o'er his head the reddening furges clofed. 
Fear-ftruck, and forrowing for his haplefs lord, 
The youth from flaughter fled : the adverfe band 
Perceived him not. O'er many a houfelefs moor, 
And bog beneath his footfleps quivering wide, 
And craggy height he wander'd, till he gain'd 
The piny foreil that o'er Jurna's * deeps 
Flung its black horrors ; while amid the gloom 
Gray rocks their glittering fummits rear'd, and dafh' 
From precipice to precipice, through clouds 
Of fparkling mill the headlong torrent fhone* 
There in a cavern, from whofe beetling roof 
The native fir fhot pillar-like to heaven, 
And lightly waving in the wind the birch 
Stream'd its Jong branches, he found refuge. Mofs 



* Loch Jurn, a falt-water loch an the weftern ocaft of Invc 
nefs-fiiire, penetrating many miles inland, and furrounded 
mountains and pine-icrefts of Alpine magnificence. See Pennan 
Voyage to the Hebrides, p. 343, 343. 



SPRING. 19 



Supplied his couch, decaying boughs his fire* 
With fylvan berries, and thy tuberous root, 
Cormeille *, by Famine's delving hand explored, 



* The Heath-pea, Orobus tuberofus Linn. 5 called the Cormeille, 
or Carmele, in the Highlands. 

" Among other vegetables, we have in great plenty in the 
" heaths and woods the following berries 3 wild rafps, wild ftraw- 
< c berries, blue berries, bugberries, uva urfi, &c. And we have 
<; one root I cannot but take notice of, which we call Carmele. 
€C It is a root that grows in heaths and birch woods to the bignefs 
w of a large nut, and fometimes four or five roots are joined by 
<( fibres ; it bears a green ftalk, and a fmall red flower. Dio, 
" fpeaking of the Caledonians, fays, Cerium clbi genus parant ad 
* c omnia $ quern Ji ceperint, quantum eft unmi fabte magnitude, minimi 
(i efurire aut fitire folent. Caefar, de Bell. Civ. lib. 3tio, writes that 
" Valerius's foldiers found a root called Chara, quod admiftum la&e 
u multam inopiam levabat 3 id ad fimiliiudinem panh efficiebant. I am 
u inclined to think that our Carmele (that is, fweet root) is Dio's 
<c CM genus, and Csefar's Chara. I have often feen it dried, and 
i( kept for journies through hills, where no provifions could be 
u had, I have likewife feen it pounded and infufed ; and when: 
<c yeft or barm is put to it, it ferments, and makes a liquor more 
« agreeable and wholefome than mead. It grows fo plentifully, 
<< that a cart-load of it can eafily be gathered ; and the drink of 
•* it is very balfamic." Mr« Shaw's Account of Elgin. Pennant's 
Tour in Scotland, p. 292. 

" The Highlanders have a great efteem for the tubercles of the 
« roots of the Cormeille ; they dry and chew them, in general to 
<c give a better relifh to their liquor: they alfo affirm them to be 
*< good again ft moil diforders of the thorax, and that by the ufe 
<( of them they are enabled to repel hunger and thirft for a Ion 5 

c 2 



20 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

His ftrength exhaufted lie renew'd. And oft 
With fhaft uncouth, while envious falcons fcream'd, 
Floating in air, and from the mountain's brow 
The indignant eagle mark'd him, he transfix'd 
The roe *, bounding in vain; and fnowy hare f 
Changeful ; and from the pine's high top brought down 
The giant grous J, while boaiiful he difplay'd 



" time. In Breadalbane and Rofsmire, they fonutimes bruife and 
u fteep them in water, and make an agreeable fermented liquor 
" with them. They have a fweet tafte, fomething like the roots 
" of liquorice 5 ar.d when boiled, we are told, are well flavoured 
" and nutritive, and in times of fcarcity have ferved as a fubititute 
«< for bread." Lightfoot's Flora Scotica, vol. i. p. 389. 

* Roes are mentioned by Mr. Pennant as common inhabitants 
of the Scotch pine forefts, from the banks of Loch Lomond to the 
entrance into Caithnefs. When the ground is covered with fnow, 
they broufe on the extreme branches of the pine and juniper. 
Pennant's Tour, p. 94. Eagles and falcons alfo frequent the fame 
fcenes. 

f The Alpine Hare; of which Mr. Pennant (Tour, p. 84) 
fays, that it inhabits the fummits of the higheft hills, is lefs than 
the common hare, and, when purfued, feeks (helter as foon as 
pomble under ftones. During fummer its predominant colour is 
grey. About September it begins to affume a fnowy whitenefs 5 
and becomes entirely white, except about the edges and tips of the 
ears. In April it aflumes its grey coat. 

J The Capercalze, called alfo Auercalze, Capercally, and Cock 
of the Wood, and occafionally from its great fize the Horfe of the 
Woods, as it fometimes weighs fifteen pounds, is the Jargeft of 
the grous fpecies# It inhabits pine forefts, and perches on the top of 



SPRING. 21 



His bread of varying green* andxrow'd, and clapp'd 
His glofly wings*. Oft, peering round with eye 
That fear'dthe glance of human eye to meet, 
Beneath the clin> where many a fragment rude 
Skirted the. ebbing lake,, at eve he roam'd ; 
Sprang on the feagull fluttering in the fnare 
His art had woven ; from their caverns drew 
The fhell-clad race, or feiz'd the finny prize 
Left floundering in the fhallows. Peace meanwhile 
Brighten'd the land, and Juftice through the depths 
Of glens and woods proclaimed the fated fword. 
He heard, and flew to his paternal vale. 

A deeper tinge imbrowns the wild ; yon hill 
With bridling terror heaves ; the fored quakes ; 
Through every glade portentous echoes roll. 
Heard ye not Britain's voice ? Her oaks mature, 
To brave the Ihock of elements, the might 
Of Gaul,.fhefummons; bids them guard her peace 



very tall trees, and feeds on the extreme (hoots. The colour of the 
breaft is green, refembling that of the peacock. Pennant's Tour 
in Scotland, p. 198 and 293 5 and do. part 2d, 4to, 1776, p. 23, 
24. In the fpring, this bird is accuftomed to take its ftation on a 
high tree, clapping its wings, and crowing with a loud and fhrill 
voice. It may then be approached with the utmoft eafe by the 
fowler. See Pennant's Britifh Zoology, 4th edit. vol. i. p. 264, 
and p. 266, note. 

C3 



22 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

With tributary aid, and round her ifle 
Build on the feas an adamantine wall. 
Pierce we the dells. The folitude refounds 
With bufy life. The uplifted axe, urged deep 
By fmewy arms, while the well-planted feet 
Keep firm each mufcle of the {training back, 
Delves the refilling trunk ; from every ftroke 
Wide fly the fragments. Now the afTailants paufe, 
Breathlefs and faint ; now, to determined rage 
By mutual exhortation fired, return 
Fierce to the charge. The fylvan monarch groans, 
And fliakes his leafy crown prefageful. Hark 1 
That blow was fatal. From his bafe disjoin'd, 
While from his furious fweep the victors fly, 
He falls : loud founds the fliock ; his fplinter'd arms 
Crafh ; the hills tremble ; ruin fpreads the ground. 
So, Youth of Pella, by thy vengeful arm 
Call from her throne when mighty Perfia fell, 
Earth, ocean, fhook : fnapt from their parent flock, 
Her hundred provinces in fragments huge 
Spread Empire's ruin o'er the aftonifh'd Eafl. 
Now this, now that way drawn the harfli faw grates, 
Severing the mighty limbs. Thofe flrip the bark ; 
Tn heaps thefe build it. Thofe the feebler boughs 
Hew to fit lengths ; thefe in well-order'd tiers 
Arrange them, fedulous the pile to form, 



SPRING. 



Where fmother'd heat {hall drink the fap, and change 
The green to footy charcoal. Near its fide 
Yon children deep in earth their yielding poles, 
Ribs of the temporary cabin, fix 
With tops united : thefe with pliant fhoots 
Wattled, his wigwam as the Indian weaves 
In tranfatlantic fhade, or cloth'd with turf, 
The fummer hut on Snowdon's windy brow 
As Cambrian herdfmen rear, from dews of eve 
And noontide funs the clamorous train fhall guards- 
While the flow-kindling mafs they tend, and watch 
To ope in time frefh inlets for the breeze, 
And pierce new chimnies for the impriibn'd fmoke. 
Thus eager in the fylvan toil unite 
Brifk youth and fturdy manhood ; each abforb'd 
In his own tafk, nor confcious that the arm 
Of induftry, plied hard for daily bread, 
Plants the foundations of a kingdom's power, 
And props the fplendid fabric of the ftate. 
Soon the peel'd trunk, reft of its branched head, 
Seized by thy grafp, Mechanic Art, fhall quit 
Its native lawn ; while the tired oxen pant, 
And the wain groans beneath the ponderous load. 
So fade the chieftains of the wood ; their place 
Knows them no more ; the defolated blank 
Gapes, and admits the long-excluded day, 

C4 



24 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Yet fhall contiguous faplings through the void 
Pufh their fwift growth ; and with columnar ftems 
Mounting through ether, and with ample fpread 
Darkening the plain, fhall emulate their fires. 
Thus when the ftatefman and the warrior fall, 
Dejecled Albion mourns. Ere long a race, 
With memory of paternal virtue warm'd, 
Pleads in the fenate, conquers in the field ; 
And while approving heaven the purpofe crowns, 
Upholds the reign of freedom and of law, 
Of focial order and domeftic peace. 

All hail, free forefters ! I hail you free, 
Though at the call of Man, Vicegerent Lord 
Of earth, your heads in homage bow. For man 
Regards your rights, nor haraffes the wild 
With needlefs interference. There his hand 
Controls you not : while yet he fpares the tree, 
He fpares its freedom ; leaves the trunk to fhoot 
As nature prompts the kind ; nor ftrains the boughs 
To forms uncouth, nor trims with piaftie fheers, 
And calls the havock beauty. Think on thofe, 
Your kindred, whom the taflelefs tyrant lhapes 
At his own will ; and dooms their living ftems 
To fervice more degrading than his pile 
Of roots and logs and refufe brufhwood knows. 
Think on the yew, that fix'd in lucklefs hour 






SPRING, 25 



Its growth befide his dwelling. See its creft 

Lopt to a flump, its horizontal range 

Curtail'd ; while from the mutilated ftock 

Pillars and pyramids and flatues rife, 

Giants and dwarfs. Behold the tortured box, 

Now frown, a bear ; now grin, an ape ; now feign 

A peacock's pride, and in eternal green 

Still ftrut, ftill fpread its unrelenting tail. 

Mark, happy forefters, your brethren's fhame, 

And triumph in your liberty ! And ye, 

Britons, ye fons of freedom, turn your eyes 

To climes that Ganges floats with ftreams of gold : 

In links of fleel where fuperftition binds 

The unfufpedting native ; to his caft 

Tethers him ; cramps his powers ; condemns to ply 

With joylefs hands the trade his fires have plied 

With joylefs hands for centuries 5 profcribes 

All hope of change, all profpect to o'erleap 

Or burft her barriers, to the fkies upraifed, 

And ftedfaft as the chambers of the grave. 

Behold, and blefs the Power who gave your lot 

In Freedom's land, where genius unconfined 

Purfues his favourite path ; where Science warms 

Each latent energy of foul ; and Truth 

Heaven-born her holy radiance pours abroad. 

And ! for India's wretched fons ye deem 



2$ WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Your fubje&s, yet, even yet, at length fulfil 

A mailer's charge. Ye have a Matter too, 

Throned in the fides, and watchful to avenge 

Negle&ed duty. With perfuafive lore, 

Not force, but truth perfuafive, loofe the chains 

They ignorantly prize ; bid them be free 

To acT: as men ; teach them alike to fcorn 

The fenfelefs image and the wily prieft, 

Bow to the fceptre of impartial law, 

And hail the dawn of evangelic day. 



WALK THE SECOND, 






ARGUMENT. 

A Summer Noon contrafted with a Summer Morning— Burners 
of Fern— Great Conflagrations occafioned by Fern Fires— 
Story of a Cottager — A Foreft Pool — Horfes and Cattle col- 
lected by it— Village Boy come in fearch of his Matter's 
Cattle — Hazy Effect of Noon on remote Woods -Diftant 
View of a Church — Reflections — A Forefl, though without 
the characterise Grandeur and Beauty of Mountains, of 
Rocks, of Lakes, or of Sea-mores, has Grandeur and Beauty 
of its own. 



WALK THE SECOND, 



SUMMER. NOON- 



1 he folftice rages: Nature finks oppreft 
Beneath the fultry glow. Hide me, ye woods 5 
Hide in your ihades impenetrable ; waft 
A breeze reviving from your inmofl depths ; 
While your tall trunks between I gaze abroad 
On the parch'd world, or watch the trooping deer 
Safe in the covert from the fcorching ray. 
What though with lifted ears to every found 
They turn i They fly not me ; no murderous tube 
Gleams in my hand : but far aloof they fhun 
Him, whofe green vefture and infidious gait 
Mark him their authorized deftroyer. Few 
And fhort the hours fmce from its height the lark 
Sang the firft carol to approaching morn, 
And broke the twilight {lumber of the grove s 
Yet that brief interval the clime has changed 



30 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

' »■ » ■■■ r— wn ■ ii i i i n i» ' ■ i i n 1 1 i I. ,, .i ■ tm^mmmm^^mmmmm^mmim 

From temperate zone to torrid. Scatter'd clouds, 
With orient blufh empurpled, half obfcured 
The afcending orb of light ; gray mills, effufed 
O'er the wide lawn, and from the wooded hill 
Dim through their Hurts difcern'd retiring flow, 
His labouring beams reflrain'd ; yon reverend oaks, 
Fronting the eaft, acrofs the illumined vale 
Stretch'd their long fhadows ; dewy fpangles gemm'd 
The grafs ; o'er thymy banks and opening flowers 
On gelid wings a gale of fragrance mov'd. 
Now from the burning firmament the fun 
Each cloud has driven ; with univerfal light 
Blazing, the earth repels the dazzled eye, 
Save where a lonely fpot of fliade lies clofe 
Beneath fome mafly tree, or woods extend 
Their dark receffes ; the faint traveller's flep 
On the tann'd plain Aides printlefs, as when froft 
Has glazed the downward path ; no wandering breeze 
The hufh'd aerial ocean moves ; and fierce 
As when through Indian fkies it rages, heat 
Cleaves the parch' d earth, and drains the ebbing firearm 

Yet cannot heat's meridian rage deter 
The cottage-matron from her annual toil. 
On that rough bank behold her, bent to reap 
The full-grown fern, her harveft, and prepare 
Her afhy balls of purifying fame. 



SUMMER.— NOON. 3I 



Lo, yon bare fpot fiie deftines for the hearth ; 

Now ftrikes the fteel, the tinder covers light 

With wither'd leaves and dry ; now ftoops to fan 

The glimmering fparks, and motionlefs remains, 

Watching the infant flame from fide to fide 

Run through the thin materials. Round her ftray 

Children or grandchildren, a cheerful train, 

Difperfed among the bullies ; earneft each 

To execute the talk her nod affigns, 

Half fport, half labour, fit for early youth. 

One plies the hook, the rake another trails ; 

Another, ftaggering, bears the verdant load 

Uplifted in his arms ; another haftes 

Her apron's burthen to difcharge. Each ftep 

Active and prompt obedience quickens, zeal 

Infpired by love ; the temper of the foul 

Which to the parent moil endears the child, 

The chriftian to his God. Well-pleafed the dame 

Receives their tribute ; part fhe heaps afide 

In ftore for night, the embers to preferve 

From quenching dews ; part on the kindled pile 

Adroit fhe fprinkles ; duly with her fork 

Then opes the finking ftrata to admit 

Currents of needful air ; at every gale 

The enlivened mafs glows bright, and crackles loud. 

Puffing from numerous chinks the fmcke unfolds 



32 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Its wreathed volumes ; not as when, condenfed 
By evening's gelid atmofphere, it creeps 
Below the hill, and draws along the ground 
Its lengthening train, and fpreading as it rolls, 
Melts in blue vapour ; but afpiring ihoots 
Its growth columnar, and difplays afar 
Its broad and du(ky head, to pilgrim's eye 
As view'd o'er Salem's plain the palm afcends. 
Hence fhall the matron in the diftant town 
With lifted hands her fnowy flax admire, 
And fcorn the produce of Hibernian looms. 

Oft from thefe fires malignant fparks adrift 
Borne by the wind ; or thrown by ruftic hands 
With inward purpofe that the foil, from bafe 
And noxious vegetation freed, may yield 
Salubrious pafture to the grazing herd ; 
Seize the dead grafs, the furzy brake invade, 
Kindle the matted brufhwood, and from hill 
To hill the fudden conflagration pour. 
Woe to the mighty oak that on the plain 
Grown old in folitary grandeur, meets 
The fiery deluge in its courfe : the blaze 
Round the root rattles, climbs the fmged trurit, 
Devours the leaves, and o'er the topmoft bough 
Its fmoke- ftain'd canopy triumphant rears. 
Thus when with dizzy heads and armed hands 



SUMMER. NOON- 33 

The unbridled multitude the talk aflumes 
To cleanfe from ftains and mould to happier form 
A date's well-order'd frame, if time or craft 
Some nuifance to the public weal has raifed, 
The caufe that moved or feem'd to move the ftorm, 
It finks unpitied : but the infatiate blaft 
Sill rages, Uproar thunders, Havock ftalks 
Fearlefs ; Law, Empire falls ; the reverend pile 
By hoary wifdom plann'd, by patriot ftrength 
Uprear'd, by patriot blood cemented, falls 
Headlong, and frantic myriads fliout for joy. 
Wider and wider o'er the blacken'd wafte 
Her burning tide Deftruction rolls. From fleep 
Roufed by the unaccuftom'd found, the fox 
Starts, liftens quick, the fcent of fire inhales 
AppalPd, and rufhes forth : the heath-cock wakes, 
And fprings in terror through the fervid air. 
Meanwhile the clouds dark rifmg from the fpoil 
The neighbouring hamlets with familiar gaze 
View unalarm'd : but at the clofe of day, 
The horizon red with fettled glow, and oft 
With fpiry flafhes gleaming, fills with awe 
Tracts far remote ; and to the boding mind 
The picture holds of harvefts reap'd in vain, 
Of ravaged farms, and villages deftroy'd. 
And are thefe terrors vain ? Behold yon fpot 



34 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

t - - . , — 

Beneath the Hoping covert, where the eye 
Along the ditch yet faintly to be traced, 
And edged with interrupted mounds of earth 
By mouldering time but half worn down, purfues 
The fence that once exifted ; while within, 
The fmoother furface and the livelier green 
The cultivating hand of man record. 
There by the fhelterM vale a peafant youth 
Attracted, fought his cot to rear ; nor fought 
Hopelefs : the indulgent lord of the domain 
Nodded a/Tent. Swift rofe the humble wall, 
And fwift the ftraw-clad roof. Thither ere long 
The happy bridegroom led the maid whofe charms 
Had won his heart. Soon his induftrious fpade 
Reclaimed a corner from the wafte : in vain 
The lofty-vaulting deer, the fearching hare, 
His wattled hedge afTail'd. The garden fpread 
Its herbs falubrious, gay with mingled flowers, 
Crocus and fnowdrop, tulip brought from far, 
Violet now blue, now white, and primrofe drawn 
From neighbouring thicket. Rolling feafons nurfed 
His orchard's vernal fragrance, and weigh'd low 
The boughs far gleaming with autumnal gold. 
Oft when the plain before the rufhing North 
In fnowy waves moved wild, his chimney's fmoke, 
Whirl'd rapid in blue eddies, to his door 



SUMMER. NOON. 35 

The wilder'd traveller led. The peafant grafp'd 
His oaken ftaiF, and wading through the drift, 
Pointed the buried road ; or to his fire 
Convey'd the fhivering ftranger, and renew'd 
The crackling blaze, while from her fecret flore 
His partner culPd the hofpitable meal. 
Thus glided on the peaceful years, till age 
Sprinkled their locks with filver : fcarce had grief 
E'er clogg'd the wing of time, fave when their child, 
An only daughter, o'er her hufband's grave 
Mourn'd ceafelefs, and by wailing anguifh bow'd, 
Soon follow'd him ; yet left two orphan babes 
The ancient pair to foothe. Their prattling mirth 
Cheer'd the long winter-eve, and added joy 
To blifsful fummer. One unhappy night, 
The grandfire, who had mark'd the neighbouring hill 
By kindled furze illumed o'erpower the moon, 
From unrefrefhing deep with fudden ftart 
Woke gafping : fuffocating vapour denfe 
The cottage fill'd. Scarce confcious, he fprang forth 
Untainted air to breathe. He turn'd and faw 
The fiercely vollied fparks, the pillar'd fire, 
Burft from the chatch. Inward he rufiVd to fave 
What more than life he lov'd. At once the roof 
Sunk ; higher tower'd the flame : wife, huiband, babes. 
One ruin whelm'd ; one grave their bones received. 

T) 2 






36 WALKS IN A FOREST. 



Behold yon pool, by unexhaufled fprings 
Still nurtured, draw the multitudes that graze 
The plains adjacent ! On the bank worn bare, 
And printed with ten thoufand (leps, the colts 
In fhifting groups combine ; or, to the brink 
Defcending, dip their patterns in the wave. 
Bolder the horned tribes, or lefs of heat 
And teafing infects patient, far from fhore 
Immerge their chefls ; and while the hungry fwarm 
Now foars aloof, now refolute defcends, 
Lafli their tormented fides ; and, (lamping quick 
And oft, the muddy fluid fcatter round. 
FixM many an hour, till milder ikies recall 
Defire of long forgotten food, they (land 
Each in its place ; fave when fome wearied bead 
The preffure of the crowd no longer brooks, 
Or in mere vagrant mood her (lation quits 
Reftlefs ; or fome intruder, from afar 
Flying o'er hill and plain the gadbee's fling, 
(For ftill the dreaded hum fhe hears, and (hakes 
The air with iterated lowings,) fpies 
The wat'ry gleam. With wildly-tolling head, 
And tail proje&ed far, and maddening gait, 
She plunges in, and breaks the ranks, and fpreads 
Confufion, till conftrain'd at length fhe (lops, 
Wedged in the throng. Beneath a neighbouring bufh, 



SUMMER.-— NOONr 37 

Poor fhelter from the potent ray, reclines 

The ruftic boy, to count his matter's herd 

Sent from yon hamlet ; left fome ftraggler, feized 

By iharp and fudden malady, fhould pine 

Untended in the wood ; or, refolute 

To crop forbidden pafture, overleap 

The well-plafti'd fence, and roam the diftant field. 

Panting, bareheaded, and with out-ftretch'd arms - 

He fleeps ; and dreams of winter's frofty gale, / 

Of funlefs thickets, rills with breezy courfe, 

Morn's dewy frefhnefs, and cool reft at eve. 

So when in dumber the poor exile feeks 
A paufe from woe, delufive fancy's hand 
Prefents each object of his fond defire. 
He reads the joyful fummons to return ; 
Beholds the bark prepared, the fwelling fail ; 
Hears the impatient feamen murmur ; grafps 
The pendent rope exulting ; climbs the deck ; 
Skims o'er the wave, and hails his native fhore. 

From the whole furfaee of the tepid earth, 
But moft from rivers rippling fwift, and pools, 
And trickling fprings, and oozy fwamps exhaled* 
A vapoury fteam floats, with the loaded air 
Yet uncombined ; and undulating (till 
And ever twinkling, o'er the diftant woods 
Sheds a blue haze, and dims their ihadowy forms. 

D 3 



38 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Where through the tufted coverts of the grove 

That opening glade defcends, and leads the eye 

To fcenes beyond the forefl's bound removed, 

How nobjy mid the fading landfcape (lands 

Yon * fane pre-eminent ! It warms my heart, 

When through the wide-fpread provinces I ftray 

Of this fair realm, to view the flender fpire 

And mafTy tower from deep -embowering (hades 

Oft rifing in the vale, or on the fide 

Of gently-floping hills, or, loftier placed, 

Crowning the wooded eminence. It looks 

As though we own'd a God, adored his power, 

Revered his wifdom, loved his mercy; deem'd 

He claims the empire of this lower world, 

And marks the deeds of its inhabitants. 

It looks as though we deem'd he fills all fpace 

Prefent throughout ; and bends from heaven's high 

throne 
With ear attentive to the poor man's prayer. 
It looks as though we fhrunk not from the thought 
Of that laft manfion (laft as far as earth 
Detains us) where, in folemn filence laid, 
Our duft (hall (lumber, till a voice, like that 
Which, fpeaking by the aftonifiVd f prophet's mouth, 



* Lichfield Cathedral. f Ezekiel, chap, xxxvii. 



SUMMER. NOON. ^O, 



Roufed the dry bones that ftrew'd the ample vale 
To fudden life, mall call the unnumber'd dead, 
Primaeval Adam with his lateft fons, 
From every clime before their Judge's face 
To (land, and hear their everlafting doom. ■ 

God clothes his works with beauty. What tho' here 
He has not wrapp'd in clouds the mountain's head 
Magnificent, nor piled the fractured rock ; 
Nor delved the ftony cavern flretching wide 
Its unfupported roof; nor dow r n the deep 
Pour'd the rude cataract ; nor bid the lake 
Expand its lucid mirror to the fun ; 
Nor ocean's billowy furges wafli the bafe 
Of promontories, whofe white cliffs, with fowl 
Swarming of every feaborn tribe, refound 
With countlefs wings, and never-wearied cries : 
Yet has his hand the intermingling charms 
Of hill and valley, lawn, and winding dell, 
In rich exuberance fpread ; yet has his hand 
Hung thefe wild banks with fylvan majefty. 



D4 



WALK THE THIRD. 



ARGUMENT. 

A Summer Evening defcrihecl — Moon rifes— Stars and Planets— 
Addrtfs to them— Nodtumal Birds in purfuit of Jnfecls — The 
Subject illufhated by the annual Migration of Herrings— 
Wild-Cat — Weafei deftroving a Leveret — An Evening in an 
African Foreft — The Slave-Trade— Deer-Stealer— His Method 
of proceeding defcribed — Purfuit of him by the Keepers — 
Addrefs to the Votaries of Luxury — The Turtle — Effects of 
the Luxury of the Wealthy on the Morals and Fate of the 
Fort ft Peafant. 






WALK THE THIRD, 



SUMMER.. 



MOONLIGHT. 



e glow of eve is faded. Scarce the Weft 
.etains a pale memorial of the beams 
'hat fired it, when the horizontal clouds, 
ith purple dyes and fiflures edged with gold, 
reak'd the calm ether ; while through fparkling haze 
Mie faint hills glimmer'd, fainter as their chain 
pproachM the fount of brightnefs, fainter ftill 
r here funk the parting orb, and with the fky 
In undiftinguifhable fplendor join'd. 
Frowning on yonder eminence, the oak 
Stretch'd his wild arms, and with contrafting gloom 
Athwart the blaze his fable curtain flung v 
Milder, flill milder, the fubfiding glow 
Spared the pain'd eyeball, and with fober rays 
Quench'd in the gathering dufk refrefh'd the fight : 
As when remembrance of a buried friend 



44 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

No longer with intenfity of grief 
Harrows the foul ; but, mellow'd down by time f 
From fadnefs to compofure foothes the breaft, 
Sacred compofure, near allied to joy. 
Soon o'er the hill the yellow-tinctured moon 
Rofe through the twilight, and with flanting ray 
Gilded the topmoft boughs ; while all the vale 
And all its Hoping boundaries lay wrapt 
In fliade unvaried. Now with leffening orb 
And filver afpect climbing, through the leaves 
And thinner fpray a tremulous gleam fhe throws, 
Chequering the moffy path beneath our feet. 
Round her the ftars and planetary balls 
With cloudlefs luftre burn ; not ranged in heaven 
With mere defign a twinkling aid to yield 
To the late-wandering ftranger, nor ordain'd 
To rule our deftinies, as craft averr'd, 
And ignorance believed ; thy power, thy love, 
Parent of all, they fpeak : they tell of worlds 
Innumerable, warm'd by other funs, 
And peopled with innumerable hofts 
Of beings, wondrous all, nor lefs than man 
Work of thy hand, and children of thy care ! 
Ye fparkling ifles of light that ftud the fea 
Of empyrean ether! Ye abodes 
Of unknown myriads, fpirits, or in bands 



I 



SUMMER. MOONLIGHT. 45 



Held of corporeal frame ! Fain would my foul, 
A third for knowledge unreveal'd to man, 
Queftion your habitants, and fain would hear 
A voice refponfive from your diflant bourn. 
Tell, tell me who poffefs your radiant climes ; 
What are their forms, their faculties, their hopes, 
Their fears, if fubjed or to hope or fear ? 
What fond purfuits, what animating toils, 
Diverfify exiftence with deligh t ? 
Rove they in courfe aerial unconfined 
From fphere to fphere, with interchange of joy 
eightening their mutual blifs ; or dwell they fix'd, 
ach in his native folitary orb, 
nconfcious of the lot of neighbouring worlds ? 
hat homage, what returns of grateful love 
ield they to Him who made them ? Stand they fall 
undecaying bleffednefs, fecure 
om rifk of lofs : or tread they yet the flage 
f perilous probation ? Hath Sin won 
onquefts through difobedience o'er thofe hofts ? 

your bright regions yawns the gate of Death ? 
alls he, who falls, for ever ?— Power fupreme ! 
ardon the afpiring thoughts that would prefume 
o pierce the veil which ftirowds from mortal eye 
he wonders of thy realms ! Enough, to know 
hat thou art Lord ! Thy univerfal love 



^6 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Pervades Creation ; on each living form 
Showers down its proper happinefs ; and, when guilt 
Wakes thy reluctant vengeance, (lays the bolt 
Of wrath, and pales its mitigated fire ! 

While with their heads beneath their ruffled plumes 
Conceal'd, the birds that fported during day, 
Reft in thefe fheltering bullies, at whofe roots 
The vivid worm her nightly fpark illumes ; 
And couching in that brake, the timorous deer 
Slumbers forgetful of each paft alarm ; 
The tribes of evening ifTue from their cells, 
To animate the dufk. Heard ye the owl 
Hoot to her mate refponfive ? 'Twas not flie 
Whom floating on white pinions near his barn 
The farmer views well pleafed, and bids his boy 
Forbear her neft ; but flie who, cloth'd in robe 
Of unobtrufive brown, regardlefs flies 
Moufe-haunted cornftacks, and the threfher's floor, 
And prowls for plunder in the lonely wood. 
On leathern wing in changeful jerks the bat 
Flitting, and twittering flirill and weak, renews 
The wonted chace. Nor is the chace in vain. 
For ever and anon the battle dull 
Smites us with fudden ftroke, flopping at once 
Its heavy hum : while moths of fize and form 
And motion various, flutter by, with plumes 



SUMMER.— MOONLIGHT. 47 

Lefs gorgeous, not lefs delicate, than theirs 
Whofe painted wings the noontide flowers adorn. 
Hark ! from yon quivering branch your dire ft foe, 
Infects of night, its withering note prolongs *, 
Loud as the found of bufy maiden's wheel : 
Then with expanded beak, and throat enlarged 
Even to its utmoitftretch, its cuftomed food 
Ptirfues voracious. Thus from Zembla's deep 
On warmer climes when herring armies f pour 



* The goatfucker. M This bird agrees with the fwallow tribe 

* in food, and in the manner of taking it j differs in the time of 

* preying, flying only by night 5 fo with fome juftice may be 

* called a nocturnal fwallow. It feeds on moths, gnats, dorrs, or 
( chaffers; from which Chariton calls it a Dorr- hawk ; its food 
1 being entirely that fpecies of beetle during the month of July. 
c — Scopoli feems to credit the report of its fucking the teats 
( of goats j an error delivered down from the days of Ariftotle. 
e Its notes are moft fingular ; the loudeft fo much refembles that 
f of a large fpinning-wheel, that the Welch call this bird aderyn 
( y droell, or the wheel- bird. It begins its fong moft punctually 
1 on the clofe of day, fitting ufually on a bare bough. The noife 
( is fo very violent, as to give a fenfible vibration to any little 
c building it chances to alight on, and emit this fpecies of note." 

Pennant's Britifh Zoology, vol. i. p. 416, 417. See alfo White's 
NaturaliiVs Calendar, p. 79. 

f The winter habitation of the herrings is the fea within the 
Arctic circle. "This mighty army," fiys Mr. Pennant (Britifh 
Zoology, 4th ed. vol. Hi. p. 336, 337), " begins to put itfelf in 
" motion in the fpring. We diilinguim this vaft body by that name j 



48 WALKS IN A FOREST. 



The living tide of plenty ; to the fun 

With gold and green and azure many a league 

When ocean glitters like a field of gems, 

Gay as the bow of heaven, and burns by night 

In every billow with phofphoric fire ; 

Their march innumerous foes attend. Behold, 

In light-wing'd fquadrons, gulls of every name, 

Screaming difcordant, o'er the furface hang, 

And ceafelefs ftoop for prey. Lo ! gannets huge 



" for the word herring is derived from the German heer, an army, to 
" exprefs their numbers. It is divided into diftincl: columns of five 
" or fix miles in length, and three or four in breadth." The fame 
author, in his Tour in Scotland, 1772, 2d ed. p. 373, 374, obferves 
further, : " In a fine day, when the fim appear near the furface, 
'• they exhibit an amazing brilliancy of colours. All the various 
<c corufcations that dart from the diamond, fapphire, and emerald, 
" enrich their track 5 but during night, if they play on the fur- 
" face, the fea appears on fire, luminous as the brighter!: phof- 
" phorus.— The figns of the arrival of the herrings are flocks of 
** gulls, which catch up the fifli while they fkim on the furface : 
" and of gannets, which plunge and bring them up from confi- 
'* derable depths. Codfifh, haddocks, and dogfifh follow the 
" herrings in vaft multitudes 5 whales, pollacks, and porpoifes 
** are added to the number of their foes : thefe follow in droves 5 
" the whales deliberately, opening their vail mouths, taking them 
< c in by hundreds. Thefe monfters keep on the outfide 5 for the 
" body of the phalanx of herrings is fo thick as to be impene- 
« trable." 



SUMMER. — MOON-LIGHT. 49 

And ofpreys *, plunging from their cloudy height 
With leaden fall precipitate, the waves 
Cleave with deep-dafhing breaft, and labouring rife, 
Talons and beak o'erloaded : while beneath 
Monfters marine with fanguine inroad gore 
The loofer files : and, floating vaft, the whale 
Infatiate lops the impenetrable hoft, 
Unbars his mighty jaws, clofe-crowded troops 
Ingulfs at once, and clafps the gates of death. 
Frefh from its den, yon hollow trunk, behold 
The wild-cat, deadlieft of the favage tribes 
That roam in Britifh foreft ; wont on high 
To feize the rapid fquirrel, or by guile 
Pluck from her neft the unfufpecling dove, 
* Or to the ground defcending thin the race 
That bores the fandy warren. Thus from fea 
To fea, from fhore to fliore, athirft for fpoil, 



* « The ofprey feeds chiefly on fi/h, taking them in the fame 
" manner as the fea-eagle does, by precipitating itfeJf on them. — 
" The Italians compare the violent defcent of this bird on its prey 
" to the fall of lead into water, and call it auguifta piumbina, the 
}*< leaden-eagle." Brit. Zool. 4th edit. vol. i. p. 175. The fea- 
eagle is thus finely charafterifed by Pliny: " Supereft haliaeetos, 
« clariflima oculorum acie, librans ex alto (e(e, vifoque in mari 
" pifce, praeceps in eum ruens, & difculTis peclore aquis rapiens." 
On the fimilar habits of the gannet, fee Brit. Zool. vol. ii. p. 617. 

E 



50 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

" i ■ ■ i =C 

The pirate fleers ; now chafes o'er the wave 
The merchantman in ever-changing courfe 
Tacking in vain ; now lands the midnight crew 
Havock and flame through fome defencelefs town 
To fpread ; now, braving noon's indignant eye, 
Sacks the lone village : fcatter'd o'er the plains 
To every wind, the fhepherds pant ; and oft 
Snatching a glance reverted, mark the fmoke 
And fiery gleam that tell the tale of woe. 
See from his cave beneath the brambly bank 
The fox glide forth, fcenting the feather'd prey 
Perch'd at the neighbouring cottage. Creeping flow 
The weafel, and in filence, through the fern 
Steals on the dozing leveret. From her feat 
She ftarts, and bears away the aflailant fix'd 
Fafl to her neck, and from the flowing vein 
Sucking the vital current. Lo, fhe falls. 
The puny murderer flinks into the brake 
From the drain'd carcafs, fated with the blood. 

Amid the nightly prowlers of thy wilds, 
Britain ! man walks ferene : in all their tribes 
None found to bid him tremble, none to aim 
Talon or fang againft their rightful lord. 
O wretched he, whom Senegambian fhades 
Inclofe at eve ! He, while a vault of flame 
Smote on his brow, and fcorch'd his gafping throat, 



SUMMER. — MOONLIGHT. 5I 

Day after day through fandy oceans toil'd, 

Where deathlike filence brooded o'er the wafte, 

And boundlefs fpace feem'd but a larger grave : 

No fign that ever foot the burning earth 

Had track'd, or life inhaled the vapoury fire* 

Save when fome camel's bleaching ribs he paft, 

Or corfe of long-loft pilgrim parch'd to ftone. 

If to a bordering foreft, when the fun 

Kindles the weft, his weary courfe draw nigh ; 

Soon as the orb its laft red crefcent dips, 

At once the lion's defert-fhaking roar, 

The gaunt hyena's fhriek, the panther's growl, 

And yells of every tone that breathes difmay 

Strain'd from unnumber'd throats, athirft for blood, 

Join diflbnant : with ferpent hifs the gloom 

Quivers : the herded elephants advance 

With thundering fhock, and through oppofing woods 

Crufli their wide way. Now the brief twilight fades : 

In agony he fhudders ; through the dufk 

Sees fiery eyeballs glare ;and hears the rout 

Of countlefs antelopes, than tropic ftorms 

More fleet, rufti headlong from the gripe of death ; 

Hears famifh'd monfters panting in the chace, 

And cries and groans proclaim the arrefted flight 

Of victim after victim. Stretch'd on earth, 

Each limb with icy dread convulfed, he lies, 

E 2 



5^ WALKS IN A FOREST. 



Lies powerlefs, hopelefs: and with vain regret 
Sighs for the horrors of the fervid noon, 
Where deathlike filence brooded o'er the wild, 
And boundlefs fpace feem'd but a larger grave ; 
Where late the camel's bleaching ribs he pad, 
And corfe of long-loft pilgrim parch'd to (lone. 
O wretch, whom noon fhall never light again! 

And are the lion's defert-fhaking roar, 
The ferpent hifs, wide quivering through the gloom, 
The gaunt hyena's fhriek, the panther's growl, 
And yells of every tone that breathes difmay 
Strain'd from unnumber'd throats athirft for blood, 
The direft founds that thrill the fhuddering wafle ? 
Inferior monfters ! hence : a fiercer brute 
Advances on his prey. Man, favage man, 
Prowls to enflave his brother. See the burft 
Of flame : thofe outcries hear ! Yon ruffian band 
Surrounds the blazing village. Sleep is fled. 
Naked, with frantic fteps, panting for life, 
And freedom more than life, from fide to fide 
The wretched inmates hurry, and in vain 
The guarded circle try. What foe profeft 
Utter'd the mandate ? None. From him, yes him, 
It came, who bears the fceptre of the land, 
Bears the paternal name of King ; from him, 
Who foremoft in the battle -fliould have bled 



SUMMER."*— MOONLIGHT. 53 

To fhelter them from wrong. The white men's bribe 
Prevailed. Defencelefs, guiltlefs,unaccufed r 
He feized them, ibid them ; mother, hufband, babes, 
And all that ever fbail from them be. born, 
Beneath a foreign Lord, a foreign fky, 
To ftripes and chains and mifery confign'd. 
And yet when famifh/d, friendlefs, and forlorn, 
The poor white man beneath the village-tree 
Drench'd by the ftorm flood fhivering ; pity's hand 
Call'd him within the hut, prepared him food, 
Andfpread his couch: while many an artlefs lay 
Mourn' d o'er the friendlefs poor white man ; for he 
No mother had to bring him milk, nor wife 
To grind his corn*.— Thou fcandal to the name 



* " I was obliged to fit all day without victuals, in the made 
(c of a tree : and the night threatened to be very uncomfortable, 
** for the wind rofe, and there was great appearance of a heavy 
" rain ; and the wild beads are fo very numerous in the neigh- 
" bourhood, that I mould have been under the neceflity of 
** climbing up the tree, and retting amongft the branches. About 
u funfet, however, as I was preparing to pafs the night in this 
" manner, and had turned my horfe loofe, that he might graze at 
" liberty, a woman, returning from the- labours of the field, 
'* flopped to obferve me, and perceiving that I was weary and 
H dejected, inquired into my fituation, which I briefly explained 
" to her j whereupon, with looks of great companion, me souk 



54 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Of Englifhman and Chriftian ! Thou, who ftand'H: 
In yonder Tropic Ifle thy flave befide, 
His nervous limbs, as though he were thine ox, 
With greedy eye perufmg : take the book 



M up my faddle and bridle, and told me to follow her. Having 
" conduced me into her hut, fhe lighted up a lamp, fpread a mat 
4< on the floor, and told me I might remain there for the night. 
" Finding that I was very hungry, (he faid me would procure me 
" fomething to eat. She accordingly went out, and returned in a 
** mort time with a very fine fifh j which, having caufed to be 
u half broiled upon fome embers, fhe gave me for fupper. The 
* c rites of hofpitality being thus performed, towards a ftranger in 
(i diftrefs; my worthy benefadtrefs (pointing to the mat, and 
" telling me I might fleep there without apprehenfion) called 
M to the female part of her family, who had flood gazing on me 
■" all the while in fixed aftonifhment, to refume their talk of 
" fpinning cotton ; in which they continued to employ themfelves 
-" great part of the night. They lightened their labour by fongs, 
" one of which was compofed extempore ; for I was myfelf the 
«' fubject of it. It was fung by one of the young women, the reft 
" joining in a fort of chorus. The air was fweet and plaintive j 
iC and the words, literally tranflated, were thefe :— " The winds 
<; roared, and the rains fell. The poor white man, faint and 
" weary, came and fat under our tree. — He has no mother to 
<c bring him milk ; no wife to grind his corn. Chorus. Let us 
" pity the white man ; no mother has he, &c. &C.** Trifling as this 
" recital may appear to the reader, to a perfon in my fituation 
<< the circumftance was affecting in the higheft degree. I was 
" oppreffed by fuch unexpected kindnefsj and fleep fled from my 









/ 



SUMMER.— MOONLIGHT. 55 

Thy father gave thee, when his faltering voice 

Pour'd a laft bleffing on thy parting fteps, 

And bade thee ferve thy Maker. Take the book : 

It is the facred record of thy faith, 

Faith real or pretended. Mark the curfe 

Hurl'd at " Manftealers i" ponder on the law 

Of univerfal duty, a What thou wilt 

" Others fhould do to thee, do thou to them." 

Then haften to the port, and hail the bark 

That cleaves the wave from Guinea : from her throng 

Of agonized victims cull the prime : 

Fetter them, talk them, with thy bloody fcourge 

Teach them a Briton's mercy : count thy gains : 

Add yet another and another year : 

And when, the goodly computation clofed, 

O'erjoy'd thou paufeft, write beneath the fum; 

" What if I gain the world, and lofe my foul V 

Why rufh'd that horfeman with impetuous cour/e 
Acrofs the glade, ftill looking back ? Why fhook 
The foreft with the deep-toned bloodhound's roar I 



u eyes. In the morning I prtfented my companionate landlady 
u with two of the four brafs buttons which remained on my 
tl waiftcoat ; the only recompence I could make her." See Park's 
Travels in the Interior of Africa, 4to. p. 197, 198* 

E4 



^6 WALks IN A FOREST. 

I know his deeds. Ere long on yonder plain 
Again ihall we behold him : though he drive 
His chafers to miflead, and round thefe banks 
Artful his circuit takes, there will he feek 
The outlet of the wild. This day at noon 
With ftaffand halter in his hand he ftray'd, 
As watchful of the grazing tribes ; and feem'd 
An herdfman bent his wandering colt to find, 
And from the fcanty common lead him home 
To more abundant pafture. Other thoughts 
Lay lurking in his bread. From prying gaze 
Within the hollow lining of his coat 
Cover'd, the mufket by malignant art 
For depredation form'd, in feparate lengths 
Disjointed, as mufician parts his flute, 
He bore. With never-erring fkill, the fruit 
Mature of long experience, in the crowd 
The well-fed buck he mark'd ; Angling at once 
The victim, as each herb of flavour choice 
With fapient nofe oft fhifting o'er the plain 
He croppM, unconfcious of impending fate. 
Perch'd on the fummit of the blafted oak 
The raven eyed him (often had fhe traced 
His purpofe), and in filence ominous 
Waited her offal portion of the prey. 



SUMMER. MOONLIGHT* 57 

Meanwhile, a Ihot delufive, in the wood 

At diflance due by fly confederate fired, 

Alarm'd the keeper's ear. Inftant he urged 

From glade to glade the vain purfuit, and left 

The endanger'd fpot unguarded. The fafe hour 

The plunderer feized ; the tube with fpeed reftored 

To native ihape he charged, levelled his aim, 

And drew the trigger. Clang'd the fleel, and flafli'd 

Definition. Swift he dragg'd the bleeding fpoii, 

And plung'd the quivering limbs and branched crefl 

Deep in the brake, and fled. Bold he return'd, 

When twilight lent to guilt her dubious veil, 

At eve, prepar'd his booty to convey 

To diflant mart, where pamper'd luxury 

With indifcriminate rage her dainties buys, 

Regardlefs whence they come, or how procured. 

But long, as when impatient nefllings peep, 

Wide gaping, o'er their walls of mofs, and chide 

Clamorous their dam whom fearch of food delays ; 

Long with inquiring flomach fhalt thou wait, 

difappointed Alderman ! and flrive 

To flill the cravings of the mighty void 

With meaner prey, while fympathetic dread 

Suggefls the terrors thy purveyor feels ! 

For, roufed by fudden tramplings, ere the load 

Is pack'd, acrofs his fteed the deer he throws, 



WALKS IN A FOREST. 






And mounts in hade. For now their nightly round 
The keepers hold ; and foon the ranging dogs 
Sagacious note the deed, and touch the place 
Of Slaughter. With loud roar they tell the tale ; 
And over hill and lawn fcenting the blood, 
By jolting agitation liquefied, 
k At intervals ftill dropping from the wound, 
Through all his bends the frighted robber chafe. 
Mark where they come : eager behind them fweep 
Their mafters. From our fight lo all are loft, 
Purfuers and purfued. Crofs we this knoll, 
And meet them as they circle round the fkirts 
Of that impenetrable wood. There flies 
The caitiff! Nearer, nearer ftill, the foes 
Hang ardent on his fteps. And now his form 
Shouting they recognize, and fiercer drive 
Their fteeds. For long fufpicious had they guefs'd 
His fecret wiles ; and oft at dead of night 
His cottage had they fought, and, arm'd with forcfc 
Of legal claim and juft authority, 
Entrance demanded, and with patient toil 
Explored each dark recefs, anxious to meet 
Proofs of his rapine : but his wary fraud 
Had baffled all their projects. Now his reign 
Is clofed. Hard preft he drops the deer : the bait 
His foes retards not ; on himfelf they pour 



SUMlvrfUt.— MOONLIGHT- 59 

Their utmoft fpeed. Mark, his o'erlaboured horfe 
Falls headlong ; from its back unhurt he fprings, 
And plies his nimble feet, and hopes efcape- 
In vain : the forefi: (hakes him from its woods 
Indignant, and bids roufe its {lumbering hofts 
To view their fires avenged. The keeper's grafp 
Ends his vain ftruggles ; while the baying hounds 
Leap round him, and, with rage and triumph flufh'd, 
Scarce from his quivering limbs their fangs refrain. 

Ye fons of luxury, direr foe to man 
Than fword or peftilential vapour, blufh 
And tremble as this tale of truth ye read, 
Blufli for your fhame, and tremble for your guilt ! 
Be it enough that earth's remoter! bounds, 
That polar mores and equinoctial waves 
Pay tribute to your board : be it enough 
That at your beck in fti fling dungeon pent, 
Like Guinea's injured fons, o'er feas unknown 
Wafted with pain the famifh'd turtle weeps 
Its miferable voyage ; at your beck 
Stretch'd out for butchery feels its (helly mail 
Rent from the flefti, of agonizing life 
Tenacious, while each mangled fragment heaves, 
And crawling fibres quiver on the floor. 
Spare yet the innocence of forefts, fpare 
The untutor'd peafant > lure him not to flight 



60 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

The majefly of law. — Have ye then fped, 
Search'd out his weaknefs, and with fraudful gold 
Sapp'd his integrity ? Lo, train'd by crime 
To crime, ere long he aims at nobler fpoil ; 
Plunders the fold, drives off the unguarded fleed, 
Arrefts the traveller, writhes the midnight lock, 
With murderous hand the couch of fleep invades ; 
Till, wearied by the deeds ye firft infpired, 
Avenging juftice fweeps him from the earth. 



WALK THE FOURTH. 



JfRGUMENT. 

Addrefs to Autumn — An Autumnal Morning — Fieldfares— Ad- 
drefs to them — Appearance of a Foreft in Autumn fuperior to 
its Effecl either in Spring or in Summer — Landfcape-Painters 
invited to ftudy Chafttnefs and Harmony of Colouring, and 
Breadth and Proportion of Light and Shade, in Forefts — Illuf- 
tration of the latter Subject from the Eruption of a Volcano — 
Autumnal Harmony of Nature further exemplified — The 
Woodcock -Deer waiting for falling Acorns — The Golden- 
crefted Wren — Cottagers collecting Fuel — An old Oak blown 
down — Contraft of wooded Hills near at hand, in Sunfhine, 
with a flat Diftance in deep Shadow — The Heron — A dii'tant 
Shower — Dovedale — Tutbury Caftle — Mary Queen of Scots — 
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaller— The Minftrel — The Love 
of Forefts natural to Man — Mode in which furviving Friends 
have praifed departed Genius — Praife of Forefts — Author of 
the Tafk— -Autumn originally unknown— Eternal Spring mall 
refurne her Reign. 



WALK THE FOURTH, 



AUTUMN. 



Autumn, I hail thy fteps ! On yonder knoll 

Thou ftandeft ; not as in Trlnacrian fields, 

Thy crown a wheaten wreath, thy robe embofs'd 

With golden fickles, jocund thou furvey'ft 

The reaper train ; not as on Gallic hills, 

Thy brow with vine-leaves mantled, thy attire 

Purple with clufters, and its verge with fruit 

From the pale olive broider'd, thou art wont 

To meet the peafant at his early toil ; 

But clad as beft becomes a fylvan lord. 

An oaken chaplet, with refplendent hues 

By thy own pencil warm'd, and gemm'd with knots 

Of woodland berries, twines thy auburn hair. 

Broad pictured on thy many-colour'd veft, 

Shade beyond fhade, a mimic foreft glows, 

With birds innumerous throng'd. Part foar aloft, 



64 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Plowing in fteady line their tracklefs way, 
Mix'd with the clouds, as fcenting from afar 
The vernal gale : their comrades ope their wings 
In acl: to follow. Part with languid air 
And folded plumes, as from a toilfome flight 
Yet unrecruited, from the topmoft boughs 
Explore the glades unknown ; or, by the call 
Of hunger long unfatisfied aroufed, 
Pluck the rich harveft of the fruitful wood. 
On yonder knoll thou paufeft ! O'er the groves 
As flowly waves thy hand, a deeper tinge 
Of ftains ethereal, brightening every green, 
Follows its courfe. But when thy lifted arm 
Swift as in anger moves, the fhuddering woods, 
Smit with electric horror, prone to earth 
Their withering glories pour : the rifing blaft 
Groans as it whirls the fylvan deluge wide, 
And hills .and plains in leafy billows roll. 

Long on thy progrefs, Autumn, fhall my feet 
Attend obedient ! O'er the unclouded Iky, 
The foreft world of made, the gleamy vales, 
And funny lawns, and ftreams in hazy light 
Glittering, when thy peculiar itillnefs reigns, 
As nature kept a fabbath ; when the leaf 
Shed from the aerial fpray fcarce quivering drops 
Through thelull'd. atmofphere, be mine to hail 



AUTUMN. 65 



Thy noon's unruffled calm. And when thy winds 
Prefageful, ere the brooding ftorms advance, 
Sweep through the upper air ; be mine at eve 
To climb yon fteep, and wandering in its groves, 
Groves yet umbrageous, lift en while the galei 
Unfelt by me, founds in their fhadowy tops, 
As through a diftant region borne, and feems 
To tell the converfe of another world. 
And when thy tempefts darken earth and heaven, 
And lafh the {training wood ; when eddying wild, 
Denfe as the fnow-flakes which the unwearied North. 
Shakes on the buried cliffs of Labrador, 
The flood of leaves defcends ; then be it mine 
Beneath the fafeguard of a clofe retreat 
To mark thy vengeful arm, and hear thy fhout 
Impatient on the bands of Winter call 
To hafte and feize the defolated year. 

Mild is thy brow this morn. A gentle froft 
Spangles with icy dew the grafs. The rime 
Floats thin diffufed in air ; not as condenfed 
By wintry vapour Its impervious fog 
Blots out the neighbouring covert, every twig 
Thickening with feathery filver, and the locks 
Of peafant wilder'd in the dazzling gloom ; 
But twinkling in the fun its lucid veil 
Softens each harder outline, and apace 



66 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Before the afcending radiance melts away. 
"Where in the hollow footfteps of the herd 
The fhower's cool reliques ftagnate, cryftal fhoots 
Start .from the fides ; and interfering oft, 
And link'd in union, while the bibulous earth 
Still from beneath the liquid prop withdraws, 
Hang their white network gliftening o'er the void. 
Lo ! on yon branch, whofe naked fpray o'ertops 
The oak's ftill cluftering ihade, the fieldfares fit 
Torpid and motionlefs, yet peering round 
Sufpicious of deceit. At our approach 
They mount, and, loudly chattering from on high, 
Bid the wild woods of human guile beware. 

Ye ftrangers *, banihVd from your native glades, 
Where tyrant Frofl with Famine leagued proclaims, 
" Who lingers, dies ;" with many a ri(k ye win 
The privilege to breathe our fofter air, 
And glean our fylvan berries. O'er the breadth 
Of ocean from relentlefs fkies, from waftes 
By winter petrified, from forefts whelm' d 
Beneath their glittering load, ye come to afk 



- 



: * Fieldfares migrate hither in autumn from the northern parts 
of Europe, being forced thence by the excefiive rigour of the 
feafon in thofe regions. See Pennant's Britifh Zoology, vol. i. 
p. 304, 



AUTUMN, 67 



A tranfient hofpitality. Nor force 
Nor fraud ye meditate : yet, roufed at once 
By the firft murmur of your diftant wings, 
The kite, the buzzard, and each hooked beak 
And griping talon thirtieth for your blood. 
The fchoolboy, from his irkfome toil fet free, 
Proud of the gun now firft poffefs'd, on you 
The firft rude effort of deftruclion tries. 
He marks your ftation, deals beneath the fhade, 
Scarce dares with long-fufpended ftep to prefs 
The ground, left leaves fhould ruftle ; trembles, pants, 
With hope, and fear ; his difconcerted aim 
Renews ; with faltering hand the trigger draws, 
And at the fudden thunder ftarts difmay'd. 
Even the dull ruftic as he plods along 
By hedgerow fide, or in the foreft roves, 
Obferves you, as ye pick your fcanty food, 
And whirls the dangerous pebble. What can guard, 
Ye unoffending helplefs vifitants, 
From fnares and death your perfecuted tribes ? 
He, who upholds the archangels : He, who marks 
With omniprefent eye the fmalleft form 
That lives, with arm omnipotent fuftains : 
He, who infpired your flight from fnow-clad waftes 
To happier mores unknown ; and from the depths 
Of fin and mifery for defponding man 

f 2 



6$ WALKS IN A FOREST. • 

Has paved a path in mercy, and with voice 

Of love divine bids the repentant foul 

Rife heir of heaven, nor dread the gulph of death. 

How richly varied is the fcene ! In vain 
Spring with her emerald verdure, and the tints 
Of bloom from every tree and fhrub and herb 
Breathing its odour ; Summer's hand in vain, 
Thickening with greens mature the wood, wil 

wreaths 
Of pendent woodbine linking bufh to bufh, 
And fpreading o'er the bank her blofTom'd furze 
Ardent with gold, would emulate the charms 
Of waning Autumn. What though one brief night 
Of premature feverity, one blaft 
Whirling the fleety hail, would ftrip the boughs, 
As peftilence the crowded city thins ? 
What though already on yon windy brow 
The lime and afh with unrefifting fear 
Their ftation have deferted ? Unfubdued 
The mighty foreft riles, and difplays 
His radiant files. Seize we the prefent hour, 
And trace the fleeting glories ere they fade. 
Mark the nice harmony which blends the whole 
In one congenial mals, brilliant, yet chafte, 
With every dye that ftains the withering leaf 
Glowing, yet not difcordant. Hither come, 



AUTUMN. 69 



Ye fons of imitative art *, who hang 

The fictions of your pencils on our walls, 

And call them landfcapes : where incongruous hues 

Seem their conftrain'd vicinity to mourn ; 

Where gaudy green with gaudy yellow vies, 

And blues and reds with adverfe afpect glare. 

Here deign to learn from nature. Hither come, 

Ye fons of imitative art, who fpot 

With unconnected and unnumber'd lights 

Your motley canvas ; where the eye in vain 

Longs for a refting-place, and vainly ftrives 

To trace the dim defign, mid dazzling fpecks 

And univerfal glitter undefcried. 

Here deign to learn from nature : here, though late, 

Learn the peculiar majefty which crowns 

The foreft, when the flowly palling clouds 

Triple f preponderance of fhadow fpread, 



* It is fcarcely necefiary to fay that the following lines refer only 
to the works of fome particular painters, and are by no means 
intended to convey indifcrimlnate cenfure. 

f The painters moft fkilled in the management of light gene- 
rally allow not above one quarter of the picture for the lights, 
including in this portion both the principal and fecondary lights ; 
another quarter is as dark as poflible \ the remaining half in middle 
tint. Sir Jofhua Reynolds's Notes on Mr. Mafon's Tranflation of 
Dufrefnoy's Art of Painting, p. 98, 

f 3 



*]Q WALKS IN A FOREST. 



And feparate * die broad collected lights 
With correfponding gloom : whether, beneath 
Thefe oaks, that o'er the darken'd foreground hang, 
The illumined valley mines, the pafturing deer ; 
Or yon recefs admits the fronting ray 
Between its dufky barriers ; or a gleam, 
Stretch'd o'er the tufted furface of the woods, 
Deepens the blacknefs of contiguous fhade. 

Thus with the rays of noon when Etna blends 
Her vollied flame, nor with contrafting depth 
Of fmoke and fulphurous fleam the glare furrounds, 
Scarce feen, fcarce fear'd, the fickly blaze expires. 
Wouldft thou furvey her terrors ? Wait the hour, 
When from her caves projected Stygian clouds 



* In the grouping of lights there fhould be a fuperiority of one 
over the reft ; they fhould be feparated, and varied in their fhapes j 
and there mould not be lefs than three lights. The fecondary 
lights ought, for the fake of harmony and union, to be of nearly 
equal hrightnefs, though not of equal magnitude, with the prin- 
cipal. Sir J. Reynolds's Notes on Dufrefnoy, p. 96. Yet neither 
any one of thefe fecondary lights, nor all of them together, muft 
come into any degree of competition with the principal mafs of 
light. Sir J. Reynolds's Seven Difcourfes, p. 306. The higheft 
finishing is labour in vain, unlefs at the fame time there be pre- 
ferved a breadth of light and ftiadow— the flighted fketch, where 
this breadth is preferved, will have effect. Notes on Dufrefnoy, 
p. 99. 



AUTUMN- /"I 



Inceffant rife, and air, earth, fea involve 
In more than midnight gloom. Then mark the burft 
Of fplendor from the glowing crater ftart 
To heaven ; behold the electric flafh oblique * 
Break through the darknefs ; view the exploded rocks f 
Trail their long light ; prone down the mountain's fide 
Watch the red deluge o'er the works of man, 
Hamlet and city, mead and cultured plain, 
With indifcriminate deftruction rolPd, 



* Sir William Hamilton, in his Obfervations on Mount Etna, 
Vefuvius, and other Volcanos, mentions this phenomenon as a 
conftant attendant on great eruptions. w Small afhes fell all day 
'* at Naples. They iffued from the crater of the Volcano, and 
" formed a vaft column as black as the mountain itfelf, fo that 
" the (hadow of it was marked out on the furface of the fca. 
" Continued flames of forked or zigzag lightning (hot from this 
" black column." Ed. 2d, p. 37. See alfo p. 38, 39, and the 
note, and p. 46. 85. " I find in all the accounts of great erup- 
" tions mention made of this fort of lightning, which is diftin- 
" guifhed hereby the name of Ferilli." lb. p. 164. 

f " I have feen (tones of an enormous fize (hot up to a great 
<< height from Vefuvius. In 1767 a folid ftone, meafuring twelve 
" feet in height and forty-five in circumference, was thrown a 
" quarter of a mile from the crater." Sir William Hamilton's 
Obfervations, p. 49, note. He adds that " the eruption of 1767 
" was very mild in comparison with fome others." 

F. 4 



J2 WALKS IN A FORESTS 

Plunge headlong into ocean. Ocean's waves, 
Loud hiffing, from the invading fires recoil * : 
Catania's bulwarks rock ; with tottering crefl 
Thy towers, pale Syracufe, the conflict hear ; 
And Rhegium fhudders at the refluent tide. 
Nature, in all her works harmonious, blends 



* The Earl of Winchelfea, in his account of the eruption of 
Mount Etna in 1669, quoted by Sir William Hamilton, (Obferva- 
tions, p # 60,) defciibes the itream of lava flowing upon the moun- 
tain as fifteen miles in length, and feven in breadth. " It may be 
" termed," he proceeds, " an inundation of fire, cinders, and 
" burning ftones, burning with that rage as to advance into the 
" fea fix hundred yards, and that to a mile in breadth j which I 
H faw. And that which did augment my admiration was to fee 
iS in the fea this matter like ragged rocks burning in four fathom 
tf water, two fathoms higher than the tea itfelf 5 fome parts liquid, 
" and throwing off the ftones about it 5 which, like a cruft of a 
" vaft bignefs, and red hot, fell into the fea every moment in 
" fome place or other, caufing a great and horrible noife, fmoke, 
*■ and hilling in the fea.'* 

During the eruption of Mount Vefuvius in June and July 1794, 
the lava ran from the fide of the mountain in a torrent half a miJe 
wide, and from twelve to forty feet high, through the middle of 
the town of Torre del Greco : deftroying the houfes and vineyards 
in its progrefs, and forming a new promontory twenty-four feet 
high, and extending fix hundred and twenty- fix feet into the fea. 
See Sir W. Hamilton's account of this eruption delivered to the 
Royal Society, 






AUTUMN. 73 



Extremes with foft gradation, and with tints 
Kindred throughout her changeful robe adorns. 
Bounds yon unbroken wood the level plain ? 
Light groups detach'd and folitary trees 
Unite them. Weave yon buflies o'er the hill 
Uninterrupted thickets ? Furzy brakes 
Afpire to meet them. Spreads the furzy brake ? 
With varying breadth the intruding greenfward winds, 
And the rude mafs with velvet maze divides. 
And lo, even now, when with autumnal gold 
She decks the lofty branch, on every twig 
Of humbler growth the many-colour' d fruit 
Mindful £he hangs. With fcarlet crown the briar 
Glitters: the thorn its ruddy clufters bend: 
Scarce can the floe fuftain its purple load, 
Not yet from tafte auftere, puckering the lip 
And difappointed tongue, by froft reclaim'd ; 
While from the prickly fhoots pale bryony, 
Twined round the oft encircled Item, fufpends 
Its lucid berries : rich in glofly balls, 
Privet's dark fpikes with trembling luftre gleam. 
What though yon holly's cold unalter'd green, 
That oak embofoming, with contrail harfh 
Had met the fplendid foil that glows above ? 
Cinctured with reddening zones, the fertile fpray, 



74 WALKS IN, A FOREST. 

Like Indian maiden girt with coral beads *, 
Blends with the fylvan monarch's gorgeous robe 
Tints that his gorgeous robe will not difdain. 
Nor lefs the ground its hues accordant joins, 
With faded leaves beftrewn, and floating wings 
Of ruffet fern o'erfhadow'd, whence upftarts 
The woodcock : ihe who in Norwegian dell, 
Or birchen glade Lapponian, near the fwamp 
Suck'd from the fpongy foil the prey,, to cheer 
Her tawny young ; till Winter's icy car, 
On Summer's ftep clofe f preffing, from his realm. 
Warn'd her, and earth her probing beak repell'd. 

As when the gunner, in his ftubbly way 
Paufing his arms afrefli to prime* fufpends 
The lifted flafk, and turns his ready ear,. 
If to her brood the long-loft partridge call y 
Or as, when midnight ftills the Atlantic wave,- 
The pilot, if a found that feems to tell 
Of difent breakers float upon the breeze, 
Stands motionlefs in deep attention loft : 
Beneath yon oak why liftening paufe the deer ? 



* " The villas with which London ftands begirt, 

" Like a fwarth Indian with his belt of beads." Cowper. 

f Spring and Autumn, are hardly known to the Laplanders. 
Scheffer's Hiftory of Lapland, p. 61. 



AUTUMN. 75 



They wait the falling acorn. Hark ! it leaps 
From the bare bank. Obedient to the found 
At once they turn, and feize it ; then refume 
Their patient (land, and wifh the rifmg gale. 
Aloft in mazy courfe the golden wren * 
Sports on the boughs ; fine who her flender form 
Vaunting, and radiant creft, half dares to vie 
With thofe gay wanderers f , whofe effulgent wings 
With infect hum ftill flutter o'er the pride 
Of Indian gardens, while the hollo w tongue 
Explores the flower, and drains the honied juice. 

Now chiller evenings and the near approach 
Of winter from the anxious cottage draw 
Yon group in fearch of fuel. Youthful hands 
Gather the fcatter'd flicks ; or wield the pole 



* The golden -crefted wren is the leaft of Britifh birds. It may 
readily be diftinguifhed, not only by its fize, but by the beautiful 
fcarlet mark on the head, bounded on each fide by a yellow line* 
It frequents woods, and is found principally on oak trees. Though 
fo fmall a bird, it endures our winters. Pennant's Britifh Zoology, 
vol. i. p. 379, 380. 

•f* M Humming-birds fubfift on the nectar or fweet juice of 
flowers — they never fettle on a flower during the action of ex- 
tracting the juice ; but flutter continually like bees, moving their 
wings very quick, and making a humming noife, whence their 
name." Latham's Synopfis of Birds, p. 770. On the ftrudture 
of the tongue of the humming-bird, fee ibid. p. 745. 



76 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Arm'd with light fickle, and the mouldering bough 

Pluck down with tiptoe efforts oft renew'd : 

While the dead flump that fturdy peafant hews ; 

Or, looking watchful round left prying eyes 

Obferve him, from the oak by tempefts torn 

Rends off the fhiver'd ruin with its load 

Of leafy fpray. Backward he throws his weight, 

And tugs with iron grafp : in vain the branch 

Recoils with ftart elaftic, and in vain 

Still by tough fplinters to the trunk adheres. 

And lo, yon boy in wanton mifchief tears 

The ivy twifted in contortions rude 

Round the tall maple, and the ftera divides 

With ftroke malicious. Soon the verdant mafs, 

Robb'd of its wonted nutriment, fhall fade. 

Yet fhall the lifelefs tendrils flill maintain 

Their grafp ; and, deaf to Spring's reviving call, 

To May's bright greens a dufky foil oppofe. 

Stranger, who gazeft on its tangled bower, 
Where oft the owl, impatient of the blaze 
Pour'd from meridian ardours, dozed in gloom 
Impenetrable, then with frighted wing 
Long time heard labouring in the deep recefs 
Broke forth, when clamorous children faunter'd by ; 
Mourn'ft thou its ruin'd honours ? Hither turn, 
And mark where, never more to vernal funs 



AUTUMN. 77 



And fhowers refponfive, proftrate on the earth 

A nobler ruin lies, yon oak, the boaft 

Of unrecorded centuries. With hound 

And horn when Tudor through thefe coverts urged 

His game, the monarch oft in mid purfuit 

StoppM fhort ; and to his nobles wondering round 

Pointed this mighty trunk, with royal praife 

Dwelt on its growth majeftic, and forgot, 

Enraptured with its fhade, the flying deer. 

Ages roll'd on ; and ftill its awful creft 

In ihadowy ftate above the foreft rofe : 

And ftill the traveller with admiring gaze 

Hail'd from afar the fovereign of the wood. 

But Time, the foe who never knew defpair, 

Who crufh'd proud Troy, who cleft thy bulwarks, 

Rome, 
And fees with fcorn the pilgrim fearch in vain 
The fpot where Babel flood, his ftorms array'd, 
Summoned his mildews from the venom'd Eaft, 
Breathed his green damps, the giant fabric fhook, 
CurtaiPd its boughs, its leafy honours thinn'd, 
And mined its inmoft heart. Yet long it met 
The war, fore bruifed but dauntlefs ; and its arms, 
Shiver'd and bleach'd, as in defiance rear'd, 
Frowning with femblance of primeval ftrength. 



78 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Till, as a ftate by flow corruption fapp'd, 
Whence one by one the cankering peft withdraws 
Each buttrefs of its grandeur, at the root 
Decay'd it totter'd. The autumnal blafl 
Snapp'd the few flender firings that fix'd the fhell, 
Sad remnant of the ponderous trunk. The crafh 
Earth heard, and fhuddcr'd ; mindful of the hour 
Foredoom'd ere time began, when all her pomp, 
The boaft of nature and the pride of art, 
Shall fink for ever ; when herfelf fhall hear 
The knell that calls her to her fiery grave, 
Drink the lad glimmerings of the expiring fun, 
Clofe her laft round, and fill her place no more. 
How forcible the contrail i Light and gloom, 
Beauty and grandeur with contending powers 
Heighten the landfcape ! On the tufted heads 
Of thefe fteep woods, that hurry down the flope 
With headlong plunge eager to meet the vale, 
A flood of radiance refts, with brighter hues 
Bids Autumn glow, and tells each break that marks 
The indented furface : while, as mighty fleets 
From Indian fliore deep- laden ftretch their wings 
Athwart the fliadowy main, yon low-hung clouds 
O'er hamlets faint, and dim-difcover'd meads, 
And village towers above the encircling trees 



AUTUMN. 79 



Peering obfcure, in pomp of darknefs float, 
And lurid purple chills the expanfe beneath. 
There, where in curves now loft, now traced again, 
A wandering luftre, as from rippling ftreams 
Reflected, plays ambiguous, oft the heron, 
Pofted in Dove's rich meads, with patient guile 
And pale gray plumes with watery blue fuffufed 
Stands like a fhadow : then with out-ftretch'd neck, 
While near with fidelong gait the fowler creeps, 
Rifes,, and,, fleering to the diftant fen, 
Shrieks from on high, and flaps her folemn wing. 
Hence northward to yon ridgy heights the eye 
Glances at large. Lo their magnetic tops 
Have feized the paffing cloud : the torrent rain 
Smokes on their deluged fides. The fhower drives on ; 
Hill after hill fucceflive difappears 
Before the encroaching vapour. Loft awhile, 
They mingle with the fey : now far behind 
Gradual emerge, obfcurely through the rear 
Of the fpent ftorm difcerri'd ; now glimmer faint 
With watery beams ; now through the frefhcn'd air 
Swell on the fight, and laugh in cloudlefs day. 
There, mid disjointed cliffs and tranquil (hades, 
Low in his native dale, with ftream as pure 
As melts from Alpine fnows Dove laves his rocks 



80 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Wild as by magic planted, yet with grace * 
Of fymmetry arranged ; now foaming darts 
Along the ftony channel, tufted hies 
Now circles, now with glafly furface calm 
Reflects the impending glories of his hills. 
There Contemplation at the fall of eve, 
By gurgling waters luil'd, with downcaft gaze 
Pores on each infect form, that fkims the deep, 
Each graffy blade, that vibrates in the ftream : 
Then the green flopes, the craggy barrier views, 
And fylvan gloom fequefter'd : then to heaven 
Lifts an adoring glance, and thinks on Thee, 
Maker of all that lives, of all that, void 
Of life, with beauty charms, with grandeur awes, 
I>ims with admiring gratitude the eye, 
With holy rapture fwells the kindling heart. 
Or turn we fouthward, where on yonder cliff 
Dove, o'er thy ampler wave projecting fliine 



* " From the defcription given of Dovedale, even by men of 
" tafte, we had conceived it to be a fcene rather of curiofity than 
€t of beauty. We fuppofed the rocks were formed into the moft 
*' fantaftic fhapes ; and expe&ed to fee a gigantic difplay of all 
<c the conic fections. But we were agreeably deceived. The 
** whole compofition is chafte, and piclurefquely beautiful, in a 
U high degree." Mr. Gilpin's Obfervations on the Mountains and 
Lakes of Cumberland, &c. vol. ii. p. 228. 



AUTUMN. 8l 



Thofe ivy-mantled towers * ; towers once with fighs 

Sadden'd of captive Mary, jocund once 

With minftrelfy, when Lancafter convened 

The throng of barons in his fellive hall. 

Stretch' d in her cell with pallid cheek the Queen, 

And tears faft dropping from her beamlefs eyes, 

Wore the long months of grief. With anguifh faint 

If ever the frefli gale fhe fought to breathe ; 

The fullen portal thundering as it clofed, 

The huge portcullis rufhing from above, 

The frowning battlement and guarded wall, 

Prefcribed her limits. Through the ftony chink, 

Wont on the near approaching foe to pour 

The arrowy dorm, on thefe wild banks fhe gazed : 

While Fancy, minifter of woe, with hand 

Officious to her view prefented ftili 

Gay troops of foreft deer unprifon'd airs 

Inhaling, and as frolic fport infpired, 

Bounding unfetter'd. To new dungeon toft 

From dungeon, her unpitying rival's ear 

With fruitlefs prayer fhe plied. The cold excufe, 

The taunt, the ftudied filence of neglect, 



* Tutbury Caftle, once the prifon of Mary Queen of Scots ; 
and in earlier times the refidence of John of Gaunt. 



82 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Silence than cold evafion and than taunt 
More keen, ftie bore : yet dreams of brighter hours 
Still cherinVd ; and dill hoped, and hoped in vain, 
To burft the chains which envious hate had twined ; 
Till Freedom on the fable fcaffold's height 
Stood hand in hand with all-fubduing Death, 
To end her bondage . Other fcenes the bard 
Crown'd with high harpings ; when unnumber'd 

lights 
Illumed the fretted roof, che pendent arms 
That deck'd the wall ; and glowing through the rows 
Of adverfe windows, where the cryftal plain 
Art's richeft tracery fpread, proclaim'd afar 
The princely feaft of Lancafter. He rofe : 
Mirth ceafed her tumult ; every found was hufli'd ; 
All from their feats bent forward. Age and youth, 
Warriors, and gorgeous dames enraptured heard 
The tale of antient years, the tale of arms 
In glorious caufe triumphant : then allured 
To fadder themes, with mifty eyeballs learn'd 
Of youths before an aged parent's face 
In their nrft onfet flain ; or from the fword 
Of hoftile inroad, while on foamy deeds 
They bore the plighted objefts of their love, 
Headlong from midnight precipices hurl'd, 
Or plunged in tracklefs bogs, abforb'd, and loft. 



AUTUMN. S3 



Oft as his lord, to grace the feftal day, 
When knighthood's champions on the lifted fie 
Should couch in emulous career the lance, 
Bade him the fong prepare ; thefe fylvan depths, 
Thefe glades at early dawn he pierced, and hung 
Even on yon oak his lyre : then mufing ftray'd ; 
Then vocal tried the meditated lay, 
And fwept the firings ; while echo fwell'd the chords 
Of harmony divine, and flocking deer, 
Thoughtlefs of food, in liftening wonder gazed, 

Man loves the foreft. To the general flame 
My breaft is not a ftranger. I could rove 
At morn, at noon, at eve, by lunar ray, 
In each returning feafon, through your fhades, 
Ye reverend woods ! could vifit every dell, 
Each hill, each breezy lawn, each wandering brook, 
And bid the world admire ; and when at laft 
The fong were clofed, each magic fpot again 
Could feek, and tell again of all its charms. 
But let me check the partial ftrain, nor fwell 
With indifcriminate and trivial praife 
The long defcription ; left attending youth 
And virgin innocence outwearied loathe 
The injudicious rapture, and contemn 
What elfe had touch'd the heart. When Genius dies 
{I fpeak what Albion knows), furviving friends, 

G 2 



#4 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Eager his bright perfections to difplay 

To the laft atom, echo through the land 

All that he ever did, or ever faid, 

Or ever thought ; recount the coats he wore, 

Who made his wig, who ferved him with rappee ; 

Whether 'twas March, or April, when he told 

The ftory of the pig that crofs'd the lane, 

And tripp'd the ill-fated huckfter in the mire ; 

Whether he cream'd his teacup firft, or when 

'Twas fill'd and fugar'd ; whether trout or pike, 

Veal or boiFd chicken, pleafed his palate mod. 

Then for his writings — fearch each defk and drawer, 

Sweep his portfolio, publiih every fcrap 

And demi-fcrap he penn'd ; beg, borrow, fteal 

Each line he fcribbled, letter, note, or card, 

To order flioes, to countermand a hat, 

To bid his fervant bottle off the ale, 

To make inquiries of a neighbour's cold, 

Or afk his company to fupper. Thus, 

Fools ! with fuch vile and crumbling trafh they build 

The pedeftal, on which at length they rear 

Their huge Coloffus, that beneath his weight 

'Tis crunVd and ground ; and leaves him dropt aflant, 

Scarce raifed above the height of common men. 

I would not praife you thus, ye fore ft wilds ! 

With warm yet fober tints* with pencil true 






autumn; $5 



To juft difcrimination, yet averfe 

To load the o'erlabour'd canvas, I would paint 

Your choicer fcenes. O could I wake the lyre 

Like him *, who, lingering on the banks of Oufe, 

To nature faithful, and to nature's King, 

Purfues the nobleft of poetic aims, 

That only aim which gives the poet's lay 

A title to the meed of genuine praife ; 

Who, blending f in his fong with honed art 

The faithful monitor's and poet's care, 

Seeks to delight that he may mend mankind, 

And while he captivates exalt the foul I 

He fweeps the lyre : one hand excites the firings, 

Whence ftarts each glowing image that prefents 

Perfect as life the charms that deck the face 

Of earth ; the other, with fymphonious touch, 

Roufes the hallow'd chords that fwell the heart, 

And lift it to its God. O were my notes, 

Ye woodlands, with his facred fervour warm'd, 

Sweet as his mufic ; to the (lave whom pride 

Tortures, whom avarice goads, or thirft of power 

Long days and fleeplefs nights hath fcorch'd ; to her 

Whom dragg'd in triumph at his chariot wheels 

* Cowper. 

f See Cowper's Poems, edit. 4th, vol, i. p. 179, near the top, 

G 3 



$6 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Imperious Diflipation whirls through life, 

And hurries from the nurfery to the grave 

Without one interval of thought, or time 

To afk, " Who placed me here ; why was I form'd ; 

" What fhall I be hereafter ?" I would fpeak 

The calm that Hills your wilds, their gueil o'erfpreads 

Diffuflve, creeps along the confcious frame, 

Bids paufe each artery, Hays each active limb, 

Each rebel paffion chains, and through the foul 

Breathes holy peace and univerfal love. 

For fmce the globe firft rolPd, in every land 

Your fliades, ye forefts, the deluded heart 

To heavenly meditation ftill have call'd ; 

And every fong, that glorified your God, 

Have heard with eager gladnefs. Ye with joy, 

Frefh from his Maker's hand when man arofe, 

Saw him in wondering homage kneel ; ye bade 

Your yet unpraclifed echoes fwell the found 

High as the Eternal's throne, when grateful praife 

Firft broke the filence of the new-born world. 

Ye, when with bloody arm infuriate Rome, 

Pagan or Papal, from the haunts of men 

Chafed the firm band whom truth forbade to yield, 

Crouch to her priefts, and worfhip at her nod : 

Ye fcreen'd their flight,, with hofpitable gloom 

Sheker'd their anguifh/and with mingling boughs, 









AUTUMN. 87 



Vocal to prayer, a fylvan fane fupplied. 

O yet, even yet, your facred influence breathe, 

Oft as 1 tread your leaf-ftrewn paths ; to reft 

Lull each tumultuous wifh j with reverent awe 

My heart infpire ; and, as your ftately growth 

Purfues its heaven-directed aim, exalt 

My thoughts from earth, and point them to the fkies ! 

Man loves the foreft. Since in Eden's groves 
His fire, yet innocent, enraptured view'd 
" Infuperable height of loftieit fhade ■*, 
u Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm, 
" A fylvan fcene," man has the foreft loved. 
Thofe groves no autumn knew : eternal fpring 
With all the bleflings of the varied year 
In rich profufion crown'd them. But when Death 
Seized on his prey, fall'n man, Deftruclion ftretch'd 
Acrofs the woods her fceptre. With the axe 
She fells them : with the temped by the roots 
Headlong uptears them : with the fcythe of Time 
She lays them low : and yearly o'er their boughs 
Flings as in fcorn a many-colour'd robe ; 
Then ftrips the tranfient pomp, and feoffs the wilds 
Naked and chill'd in emblematic death. 



* Milton'* s Paradife Loft, book iv. line 13S — 14c 
G 4 



88 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Yet fhal] unfading Spring her fway refume 

In that new promifed earth, promifed by voice 

Of power unbounded and unfailing truth ; 

Where by no fin to defolation doom'd, 

For fin fhall not be there, no florms annoy'd, 

No violence ravaged, no decay impair'd, 

Thy works, great God, for fuch thy will, fhall ftand 

Firm through the ages of eternity ! 



WALK THE FIFTH. 



ARGUMENT. 

Prognoftics cf Snow— Man ignorantiy repines at its Fall— A 
Traveller — apprehends a Storm, and previoufly arms himfelf 
to encounter it — is caught by it on the middle of a Foreft 
-—The Storm at length ceafes — Addrefs to thofe who are 
firuggling with Difficulties in Life— Patient Hope exemplified. 



WALK THE FIFTH. 



WINTER.-— SNOW. 



A t length the fnows defcend. Her axis thrice 
The earth has circled, fmce the northern blaft 
Grew keener, veering eaftward ; and while froft 
With richer blue the arch ethereal dyed, 
Incumbent on the gray horizon's verge 
A fettled gloom has hung. This morn, when firii 
Above the fummit of yon oak the fun 
With tardy gleam arofe, a fleecy fhower 
Tinging with thin-fpread white the frozen brook, 
The bareworn track, and clofe-depaftured plain, 
Accompanied his courfe. Ere long he chafed 
The congregated vapour : yet, while noon 
Maintain'd her empire, from fome formlefs cloud, 
Whofe filmy veil by rapid eyes unfeen 
Dimm'd,and fcarce dimm\l,the azure vault of heaven, 



92 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Defcending oft the folitary flake 

Foretold the fecret purpofe of the Ikies. 

Now mid-day warmth declines : denfe haze obfcures 

The turbid atmofphere : the clouds advance, 

Not as the vehicles of rain, difpofed 

In feparate mafles, and of varying hue ; 

Not as the manfions of rebounding hail, 

Lurid and dark ; nor thofe where thunder dwells, 

Of wildeft forms, fcowling with purple dyes, 

And 'gainft the nether ftreams of air propelPd 

By their own currents ; but of afpeft dun, 

Of texture uniform, and blending quick 

In one unbroken furface, onward move 

In firm array, and load the rifmg gale. 

Athwart the expanfe of air behold them ftretch 

Their dufky mantle. Louder, louder ftill, 

Now paufing, now with hollow fwell prolong'd, 

The wind exalts his voice ; and fweeping wild 

Claps o'er the founding earth his fnowy wings, 

And drives through heaven the horizontal ftorm.. 

On the fail whitening world impatient man 
Gazes repining ; and already views 
The plough with forked handles through the drift 
Projecting in the unfinifh'd furrow ruft ; 
The oxen doom'd to floth ; the rapid wafte 
Of hayftack leflening duly morn and eve 




WINTER. — SNOW, 93 



Nor thinks that Heaven, oft kindeft when with figns 
Of wrath it lowers, fends forth the loaded blaft 
With merciful commiffion ; bids the fnows 
Brood genial o'er the glebe, from blighting froft 
Shield infant harveft, and the ftiffen'd joints 
Of beafl and wearied hind prepare by reft, 
Salubrious though conftrain'd, for future toil. 

While thus the echoing tempeft beats abroad, 
Beneath the impervious covert of this wood 
Of antient hollies, whofe umbrageous growth 
The gulls of Autumn have in vain aflaiPd, 
Range we fecure, and view the diftant fcene. 

Mark on that road, whofe unobftru&ed courfe 
With long white line the unburied furze divides, 
on folitary horfeman urge his way. 

not unmindful of the brooding ftorm, 
-e yet by flrong neceffity compelled 
if preffing occupation he exchanged 
Le blazing hearth, the firm-compaaed roof, 
For naked forefts and uncertain Ikies, 
With fapient caution arm'd himfelf to meet 
The Winter's utmoft rage. In filken folds 
Twice round his neck the handkerchief he twined. 
His legs he cafed in boots of mighty fize, 
And ftrength experienced oft ; warm'd through and 
through 



94 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

In chimney-corner ; and with glofiy face 

Prepared defcending torrents to repel, 

As roll the round drops from the filvery leaf 

Of rain-befprinkled colewort, or the plumes 

Of feagull fporting in the broken wave. 

Then o'er his limbs the ftout great-coat he drew, 

With collar raifed aloft, and threefold cape 

Sweep below fweep in wide concentric curves 

Low down his back dependent ; on his bread 

The folds he crofs'd, and in its deftin'd hole 

Each {training button fix'd : erect he flood, 

Like huge portmanteau on its end uprear'd. 

Fearlefs he fallied forth ; nor yet difdain'd 

The heartening draught from tankard capp'd with 

foam, 
By hoft officious to the horfeblock borne 
With fteady hand, and eloquently praifed ; 
While lingering on the ftep his eye he turn'd 
To every wind, and mark'd the embattled clouds 
Ranging their fquadrons in the fullen Eaft. 
How fares he now ? Caught on the middle wade, 
Where no deep wood its hofpitable gloom 
Offers ; no friendly thicket bids him cower 
Beneath its tangled roof ; no lonely tree 
Warns him to feek its leeward fide, and cleave, 
Erect and into narroweft fpace compreft, 



WINTER. SNOW. 95 



To the bare trunk, if haply it may ward 
The driving temped : with bewilder'd hafte 
Onward he comes. " Hither direct thy fpeed ; 
" This flickering grove — " He hears not ! Mark his 

head 
Oblique, prefentcd to the ftorm ; his hand, 
Envelop'd deep beneath the inverted cuff, 
Strives to confine, with many a fruitlefs grafp, 
His ever-flapping hat ; the cold drench'd glove 
Clings round the imprifon'd fingers. O'er his knees 
His coat's broad fkirt, fcanty now proved too late, 
He pulls and pulls impatient, muttering wrath 
At pilfering tailors. Baffled and perplex'd, 
With joints benumb'd and aching, fcarce he holds 
The rein, fcarce guides the fteed with breathlefs toil 
O'erpower'd, and flirinking fidew T ays from the blaft. 
Behold that fteed, with icy mane, and head 
Deprefs'd, and quivering ears now forward bent, 
Now backward fwiftly thrown, and offering ftill 
Their convex penthoufe to the fliifting gale ; 
Behold that fteed, on indurated balls 
Of fnow upraifed, like fchoolboy rear'd on ftilts, 
Labour unbalanced : the fallacious prop, 
Now this, now that, breaks fliort: with fudden jerk 
He finks, half falling ; and recovering quick, 
On legs of length unequal reels along. 



96 WALKS INT A FOREST. 

Scarce on his feat can clinging knees fuflain 

The trembling rider : while the fnow upheaves 

In drifts athwart his courfe projected broad ; 

Or o'er the uncover'd gravel rattling fweeps, 

Caught up in fudden eddies, and aloft, 

Like fmoke, in fuffocating volumes whirl'd. 

The road he quits unwary, wandering wide 

O'er the bleak wafte, mid brufhwood wrapt in fnow, 

Down rough declivities and fractured banks, 

Through miry plaflies, cavities unfeen, 

And bogs of treacherous furface ; till afar 

From all that meets his recollection borne, 

Difmay'd by hazards fcarce efcaped, and dread 

Of heavier perils imminent, he ftands 

Difmounted, and aghaft. Now Evening draws 

Her gathering fliades around ; the tempeft fierce 

Drives fiercer. Chill'd within him fmks his heart* 

Home crowds upon his bofom. The wild blafl 

Appall'd he hears, thinks on his wife and babes, 

And doubts if ever he mall fee them more. 

But comfort is at hand 5 the ikies have fpent 

In that laft guft their fury. From the weft 

The fetting fun with horizontal gleam 

Cleaves the denfe clouds; and through the golden 

breach 
Strikes the fcathed oak, whofe branches peel'd and bare 



WINTER. SNOW, Q7 



'Gainft the retiring darknefs of the ftorm 
With fiery luftre glow. The traveller views 
The well-known landmark, lifts to heaven his eyes 
Swimming with gratitude, the friendly track 
Regains, and fpeeds exulting on his way. 

O ye, whom, ftruggling on life's craggy road 
With obftacles and dangers, fecret foes 
Supplant, falfe friends betray, difaftrous rage 
Of elements, of war, of civil broil 
Brings down to Poverty's cold floor, while grief 
Preys on the heart, and dims the finking eye ; 
Faint not ! There is who rules the ftorm, whofe hand 
Feeds the young ravens, nor permits blind chance 
To clofe one fparrow's flagging wing in death. 
Truft in the Rock of Ages. Now, even now 
He fpeaks, and all is calm. Or if to prove 
Your inmoft foul the hurricane ftill fpread 
Its licenfed ravages, He whifpers hope, 
Earneft of comfort ; and through blacked night 
Bids keen-eyed Faith on heaven's pure funfhine gaze. 
And learn the glories of her future home. 

So when the fon of patience heard the wreck 
Of all his fortunes, camels, oxen, flocks, 
Sons, daughters, all in one fhort hour o'erwhetmM; 
And ere each meffenger his tale of grief 
Had clofed, beheld another ftill fucceed 



gS WALKS IN A FOREST. 

" ' ■ ' ' i ii i i i — — — ^— — — »— 

With wilder eyeballs, cheeks more deadly pale, 
More trembling lips, portending heavier woes : 
When every limb thy cankering tooth, Difeafe, 
Gnaw'd to the bone : when fcoffing friends arraign'd 
His uprightnefs : when fhe who fhould have pour'd 
Balm on his wounds, his confort, mock'd his pangs 
With venom'd taunt " Still doft thou boaft thy 

« faith ? 
" Renounce the ungrateful Power thou ferv'ft in vain ; 

" Defy his malice, ihelter'd in the grave " 

His head to earth the fufferer bow'd, with hands 
Preft on his bofom ; yet his eyes upraifed 
In hope to heaven. " Father of all," he cried, 
" Thy will be done ! All was thy gift ; thine own 
" Thou haft refumed. Bleft be thy hand that gave ; 
" And — peace, my heart ! — bleft when it takes away ! 
" Yet thefe poor limbs, of fwarming worms the fpoil, 
" New life fhall clothe, and rear them from the dull. 
" Thou liveft, my Redeemer ! At the hour 
" In thy decrees ordain'd, careering clouds 
" Shall fpeak thine advent : earth beneath thy tread 
6i Shall fhrink ; this voice fliall hymn thy love, thefe 

" knees 
u Adore thy power, thefe eyes behold their God I" 



WALK THE SIXTH, 



H 2 



ARGUMENT. 

Addrefs to Winter— A Thaw defcribed— Froft returns— Hanni- 
bal afcending the Alps— A Foreft Brook traced— The EffVcls 
of Froft upon it — The Norwegian Traveller — The Wild -Duck 
—The Snipe— Cloud on a Mountain — Story of a Foreft Youth 
—Naked Woods— Winter Appearance of the Oak — A(h— 
Birch— Yew — Ivy — Holly— The Foxglove— Browfing of Deer 
—Cottage-Children aflembling to gather the Branches — EfTe&s 
of Winter — The never-ceafing Speed of Time compared with 
the unrelenting Fury of War— A Foreft Pool frozen — Difap- 
pointment of the Cattle— Captain Monk wintering on the 
Shore of Hudfon's Bay — Leffons inculcated by the feveral 
Seafons — The Confequences of neglecting the Voice of Nature 
and of Revelation— The Deluge— Addrefs to the Supreme 
Being. 



WALK THE SIXTH. 



WINTER — FROST, 



Winter, whom ficknefs dreads, whom grief abhors, 
While yet nor ficknefs on my head nor grief, 
Save with a gentle ftroke, her fceptre lays, 
All-hail, by me nor dreaded nor abhorr'd ! 
Whether on thy approach the Southern breeze 
Dims with blue damps the pallid face of day ; 
Or at thy word the cloud-difpelling North, 
Opening the depths of ether, depths unpierced 
By Summer's eagle gaze, the brow of night 
Binds with new gems, and arms with keener fire ; 
Whether on whirlwind pinions through the roar 
Of torrent rains, or arrowy fleet, or hail 
With cryftal bullets fliattering blade and branch, 
Thy car fweeps onward ; or with noifelefs wings, 
While not a breath thy flagging ftandard moves, 
Cleaves the flill flood of prone-defcending fnows. 
Whether, on earth* impreft, thy deadening foot 

H 3 



i02 WALKS IN A FOREST 

The land to iron chills, the floods to ftone ; 

Or vapoury warmth efcapes thy changeful lips, 

In univerfal thaw till Nature melts, 

While Danube turbid from diflblving hills 

Appals the Auftrian, and from Wyddfa's brow* 

The pale Snowdonian oft at dead of night 

Hears the difparted fragment thunder down, 

And views at peep of day its yawning courfe 

Plow'd in long ruin through the Hoping wood ; 

Still has thy varied afpect charms for me. 

Still haft thou charms for thofe whofe mental eye 

Views thee from Him, who rules the unnumber'dworlds 7 

Sent forth the minifter of good to man : 

Views thee with bleak viciffitude endear 

Suns of mature r glow, ferener fkies : 

Views from thy piercing blaft o'erlabour'd earth 

Inhale new vigour, and in tranfient fleep 

Prepare the glories of the coming year ! 

The fleecy mantle that of late conceal'd 
The lawns, and burying deep the furzy brake 
Difplay'd, upheaved in undulating mounds, 
A rude refemblance of the forms below, 
Is vanifti'd. From the fouth diffolving gales 



* " Wyddfa, the higheft peak of Snowdon." See Pennant's 
TourinNorthWale*, voLii. 4to. i78i»p. »6a. Art. Snowdcnia. 



WINTER. FROST. 10$ 



Blew : the fnows felt their influence. In the woods, 

Humid and comfortlefs, from dawn to eve 

Were heard inceffant drippings, pattering loud 

When the air moved the branches. The foft mafs 

Beneath of every drop the impreGion took, 

Pierced into hollows numerous as the cells 

That hide the golden treafures of the bee. 

Oft, from its lodgement on the forked bough 

Sliding, a fnowy heap with leaden found 

Sunk buried in the unrefifting floor. 

Soon through the leffening weight the elaftic gorfe 

Its murky fhoots, by contraft darker, puuVd. 

Soon on the level plain green fpots emerged, 

Where raifed the bufy ant or delving mole 

Her fubterranean dwelling : floppy pools 

In the furrounding pulp lay ftagnant. Streams 

From each low bank ran trickling ; while above, 

The new-born currents, pouring from the hills, 

O'er the fmooth flope in brown diflufion ilray'd. 

Or deep in echoing gullies roar'd unfeen. 

The brook, that late within its hollow bed 

In glaffy fetters mourn'd, the brittle chains 

Shiver'd, and hail'd the tributary Hoods : 

And oft by congregated piles of ice 

Obftru&ed, raged aloud, and ftrew'd the vale 

With fragments. Of the univerial white 



h 4 



104 WALKS IN A FOREST, 



No fpeck was left, fave where in lonely dell, 
Fronting the north, amid the general rout 
Unawed its ftation yet the drift maintain'd, 
And feem'd to wait for fuccour from the fkies. 
Thus when her ftandard civilifmg Art 
Plants on fome barbarous fhore, to mountains bleak 
And craggy faftneffes his warrior fons 
The angry Genius of the wade withdraws : 
There bids them, from the influence abhorr'd 
Of Science free, their fanguinary rites, 
Their manners rude, and favage laws uphold ; 
Till fate once more fhall pour them from their caves, 
Impatient o'er their long-loft plains again 
To fpread the veil of ignorance and night. 
Earth of its load was lighten'd, and abforb'd 
The moifture ; funny gleams and breezy air 
The furface dried. Now Froft again afcends 
His throne ; and kindling with unclouded beams 
The cope of Heaven, and fixing firm the ground, 
Crifp to the tread, from hot and crowded rooms 
Calls us his bracing atmofphere to breathe, 
And welcome his invigorating power. 

Touch'd by his cheering energy, the heart 
Beats livelier ; the cheek reddens ; through the frame. 
While yet one loitering friend we fummon oft 
With loud impatience, every vein expands 
With buoyant eagernefs : we feem to tread 



WINTER.-— FROST. JO5 



In air, the lawn even now while Fancy fcours, 

Darts o'er the valley, penetrates the woods 

That fhag yon flope, and on the naked brow 

Pants, and with joy the frefher breeze inhales. 

Thus when his hoft o'er Alps oppofed in vain 

The Carthaginian led, the laft afcent 

Labouring o'er icebuilt rocks as now they trod, 

Gafping for breath the way-worn myriads paufed. 

His bulk the wearied elephant reclined, 

Uncurl 'd his trunk, and drank the eternal fnows. 

Impatient of a moment loft, the Chief 

Prefs'd forward to the fummit ; flung an eye 

Of tranfport o'er the wide-fpread realms beneath ; 

Then turn'd, and frown'd, and call'd his lingering van ; 

Then gazed again on Italy : while Hope 

Bade him with glance prophetic mark the ftream, 

Of Trebia choked with dead ; bade him in thought 

View Thrafymene's red waves o'er legions roll'd, 

Sweep Cannae's field, and make the towers of Rome. 

Bend we our fteps befide this foreft brook, 
And trace its windings. In yon flat morafs, 
Where fpiry ruflies in divergent files 
Rife fledged with rime, where many a ftunted bufli, 
Alder or fallow, cropt by nibbling deer, 
Betrays the dampnefs of the foil beneath, 
Fram fecret fprings it murmurs. Iffuing thence, 



Io6 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Awhile in naked channel o'er the plain 
It wanders ; now in fhort and fudden turns 
Twilling round narrow points, as though it fled 
Back to its fource ; now in extended curves 
Sweeping ; now gliflening in long reaches ; now 
With fretted furface and complaining found 
Hurrying in bright cafcades. Then fwift it dives 
Into this fylvan glen. Behold it whirl 
In fullen eddies round that alder's root ; 
And far within the brink, where half congeal'd 
Lingers the foam, the trout's dark hold prepare : 
Whence, as from couchant ambufh on the fawn 
Loitering befide the jungle * fprings the pard, 
While brightening with fuccefs his fpotted fides 
Gliften ; the fpeckled plunderer of the deep, 
When June awakes her infect tribes, (hall dart 
Fierce on the prey, while with unpractifed wing 
It fports and flutters on the dimpled ftream. 
Here, the flat turf with eafy flexure meets 
The wave ; abrupt the adverfe fide defcends 
In contrail bold, whence the afpiring afh, 
Or time-worn maple darts, or fmewy oak 
Deep-fixed with many a wreathed root o'erhangs 

* The vaft thickets in the Eaft Indies, in which leopards and 
other wild beafh lurk, are known by the appellation of Jungles. 



WINTER. FROST. IO7 

The cavern'd margin. View the marly cliff, 
Its bafe by oozing fprings with froftwork glazed, 
Various beyond the forms which fancy weaves : 
Lo cryftal columns glitter ; and difpofed 
Tier above tier, pellucid cornices, 
With plumy darts and fparkling gems embofs'd, 
Tell to what height the current lately raifed 
Its ampler fwell, and with diminifh'd flood 
Sunk gradual. Thus when Rome o'er Britifh plains 
The tide of conqueft roll'd, her barrier wall, 
To Glotta now thy fnores, Bodotria, join'd *, 
Now to thy fand-banks, Solway, and the waves 
Of coaly Tyne withdrew, as rapine fped, 
Or valour's patriot arm her range curtaiPd, 
And chafed her baffled eagle from the prey. 
Here, where the ftream o'er pebbly fhallows frets 
With murmuring fpeed, a narrow range of ice 
Grows to the edge, or round the uncover'd (lone 
Concretes ; or fringed with points projecting far, 
Circles the gravelly ifland by the force 
Of floods upraifed. There, where the deeper reach 
Spreads fmooth, from fide to fide a glairy floor 
Stretches, nor hides the twinkling rill beneath : 



* The Friths of Clyde and Forth. 



108 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Or by the ftream defer ted rears in air 
Delufive bridges, to the heedlefs foot 
Of deer, or ftranger hafting o'er the wild, 
Dangerous, and loudly crafting in their fall. 

So when o'er Norway's rocks the mountaineer, 
Forming on high the dizzy pathway, meets 
Some rifted chafm, in whofe unfathom'd depth 
The cataract foams, fcarce heard above, and whirls 
Its clouds of rifing vapour ; o'er the void 
The withered birch by ftorms uptorn he throws. 
Ere long within the bark * the treacherous wood 
Moulders; and leaves the rind, a fpecious ftell, 
Bridging the gulf. Beneath the traveller's weight 
The fpecious fliell breaks fhort. He ftrieks unheard, 
Falls undeplored, by pointed crags below 
Awaited, and by torrents to the fea 
Swept headlong. Mid her babes his widow fits 
Penfive, and eyes the fnow-clad hill in vain. 

Lo ! from its haunt, by crowding alders veil'd, 



* The bark of the birch has the property of being more durable 
than the wood which it envelops. When M. Maupertuis, in his 
expedition to meafure a degree of latitude, traverfed the birchen 
forefts of Lapland, in which numbers of trees lay uprooted by the 
winds ; he found, on examining thofe which had been long blown 
down, that the fubftance of the wood was entirely gone, and that 
the apparently folid trunk confifted only of a fhell of bark. 



WINTER. — FROST. IO9 

Where mantling in the ftill unfrozen flood 
Aquatic weeds breathe warmth, at our approach 
Alarrn'd on founding wing the wild duck foars, 
And plies to diftant folitudes her courfe. 
The fnipe flies fcreaming from the marfhy verge, 
And towers in airy circles o'er the wood, 
Still heard at intervals ; and oft returns, 
And ftoops, as bent to alight ; then wheels aloft 
With fudden fear, and fcreams, and ftoops again, 
Her favourite glade reluctant to forfake. 
So on thy fteeps, Helvellyn, when the air 
Stagnates in noontide calm, a cloud reclines. 
Eddying amid thy rocks ere long a breeze 
Difturbs its reft. Unwilling from its couch 
The vapour moves : now, by the guft upborne, 
Soars buoyant ; now, whene'er the pafiing gale 
Remits, with glad precipitance fubfides, 
And hangs and lingers on the attractive brow. 

Once by yon poplars, through whofe twinkling (hade 
With fruitiefs glance the oft-reflecled beam 
Struggled, nor reached the dufky flood beneath, 
An ancient mill arofe. The reftlefs wheel 
Scatter'd the fparkling wave amid the gloom, 
And broke the noonday filence of the wood. 
7 Twas there a youth with care fraternal footh'J 
A much-lov'd filler, while a parent loft, 



IIO WALKS IN A FOREST- 



An aged mother whom his toil had fed, 

Their mingling tears deplored. One fummer eve, 

As from fhort abfence he return'd, her fhrieks, 

Shrieks as though racking pangs o'er life prevailed, 

He heard. The whirling millftone, as fhe moved 

Unwitting of the danger, feized her arm, 

And cruhVd each mufcle. The remorfelefs gripe 

He loofed. Art lent its healing aid in vain. 

Nine days in anguifh o'er her couch he hung ; 

The tenth he clofed her eyes. The murderous ftone, 

The floor ftill fpotted with a fitter's blood, 

The confcious poplars, and the fatal ftream, 

He could no more behold. His native land 

He left for ever ; ftemm'd the weftern main ; 

And, fix'd in depths of folitude to hide 

His grief, on Pennfylvania's utmoft bound, 

"Where to man's heaven-appointed rule her fons 

Bend the untamed wildernefs, prepared 

To rear his dwelling. The ftupendous fcene, 

Unlike the humbler wild that gave him birth, 

Amazed he view'd, the interminable watte, 

The woods of giant growth, the piny fwamp 

Darkening the humid air : and oft would note 

Curious the wings unknown that crofs'd the glade, 

And mark the fcaly ferpent as he flunk 

Through ru filing leaves, or darting onward fhook 



WINTER* FROST. Ill 



The warning rattle * ; or befide the root 
Of fome time-honour'd trunk in fpiral folds 
Coil'd motionlefs, his fafcinating eye 
Fix'd on the confcious victim perch'd above. 
Chain'd by the potent glance, the helplefs prey 
With piteous cries and wildly ruffled plumes 
Flutter'd from bough to bough, defcending ftill, 
Nor fhunn'd the jaws of death that gaped below. 
Meanwhile of rugged logs f his cot he framed, 



* That the Rattlefnake frequents the latitude of Pennfylvania, 
appears from Carver's Travels through the interior Parts of North 
America, 2d ed. p. 43 j and from Long's Voyages and Travels of 
an Indian Interpreter, p. 149. It is indeed found as far northward 
as lat. 49. See Long's Voyages, p. 159. The power which this 
animal porTeiTes of charming his prey by fixing his eye upon it, is 
afierted by various witnefTes ; and its effect is thus defcribed by 
Catefby : " The animals, particularly birds and fquirrels, which 
" principally are it? prey, no fooner fpy the make, than they (kip 
" from fpray to fpray, hovering and approaching gradually nearer 
" to their enemy, regardlefs of any other danger 5 but with dif- 
" traded geftures and outcries defcend, though fiom the top of 
66 the loftieft trees, to the mouth of the fnake, v/ho openeth his 
" jaws, takes thern in, and in an inftant fwallows them." Hiftory 
of Carolina, vol. ii. p. 41. 

f In the third volume of the Memoirs of the Literary and 
Philofophical Society of Manchelter, a very curious and interesting 
account of the mode of eftabliming fettlements in the remote parts 
of Pennfylvania is given by Dr. Rum of Philadelphia. Speaking 
of a fettler in the woods, Dr. Rum fays, p. 184: " His firftobjtft 



112 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

And ftopp'd each chink with mofs, leftfearching rains 

Or fnows by winter's gufty breath impell'd 

Should drench his nightly couch : then from the foil 

Cleared the rough brufhwood, and round every ftem 

Of ampler girth the fatal circle drew. 

Blighted and wan the vernal foliage mourn'd 

Its intercepted nutriment, and ftrew'd 






4 C is to build a fmall cabin of rough logs for himfelf and his family. 
€€ A coarfer building, adjoining to this cabin, affords melter to a 
€c cow and a pair of poor horfes. The labour of creeling thefe 
" buildings is fucceeded by that of killing the trees on a few acres 
" of ground near his cabin. This is done by cutting a circle round 
" the trees two or three feet from the ground. The ground around 
" thefe trees is then ploughed, and Indian corn planted in it.'* 

Mr. Smyth, in a Tour in the United States of America, 8vo. 
London 17S4, fpeaks as follows: " The general mode of clearing 
" the land in this country, where timber is of no value and labour 
** is of great, is by cutting a circle round the tree through the 
u bark quite to the wood before the fap rifes, which kills it. And 
" they cultivate the ground below immediately, leaving the trees 
€t to rot ftanding, which happens within a very few years 5 and 
u they never bear leaves more. A large field in this fituation 
€t makes a moft fingular, ftriking, and tremendous appearance. 
'* It would feem indeed dangerous to walk in it, as the trees are 
t€ of a prodigious height and magnitude : vaft limbs and branches 
** of enormous fize impending in awful ruins from a great height, 
" fometimes breaking off, and frequently whole trees falling to the 
€C ground with a horrible crafh, the found of which is increased 
" and protracted by the reverberation of the furreunding echoes." 
Vol. i. p. 94, 95. 



WINTER. FROST. 



II 3 



The ground, as when the gale of autumn whirls 

The leafy fhower : the folitary trunks 

Frown* d on the rifmg harveft. Time ere long 

Loofen'd the roots, and tempefts on the plain 

The thundering downfall hurl'd : the midnight cfafli 

Startled the foreft. Each fucceeding fpring 

Beheld the wafte retire. The paftured field, 

The emerald meadow, and the waving gleam 

Of corn by breezes moved, and all the charms 

Of hard-earn'd home, bade peace the exile's brow 

Dilate, and brighten the yet-heaving tide 

Of antient forrow ; in the void of air 

As the red moon new rifen o'er Ocean hangs, 

Streams a long line of radiance on the flood, 

And golden billows welter to the fliore. 

One vernal eve, as wrapt in lonely thought 
He traced his confines, from the bordering wafte 
An aged man came forth : his tottering fteps 
With looks of filial love a maiden watch'd, 
And propp'd him with her arm ; and when he figh'd, 
Sigh'd deeper, yet in hade the found reftrain'd, 
Left he ihould mark it. From the voice of woe 
I The exile never turn'd : the fire he join'd, 
And aik'd his grief. — Long in a diftant wild 
He dwelt in peace. With malice unprovoked 
And third of plunder fired, an Indian band. 



114- WALKS IN A FOREST. 



i 



What time no pitying moonbeam fpoke their guile, 
Stole on his fleep. At once with favage yell 
The war-whoop echoed from the wood; the torch 
Flung frequent feized the roof; the fhiver'd door 
Sunk from the ftroke ; his fon the onfet braved 
With fruitlefs arms ; the fhriek of death was heard, 
And life's laft drops the gaining tomahawk drain'd. 
Fierce on the fpoil the murderers ruftVd : unfeen 
The fire and daughter fled, forlorn to roam, 
Think on the flain, and beg their daily food. — 
Thy throbbings, Memory, in the exile's breaft 
The fad recital waked. With faltering lip 
He footh'd the wanderers, to his manfion led, 
And cried, " Behold your home ! And may the Power 
"Who feeming evil ftill to good transforms, 
" Who pitying faw, when forrow at your peace 
" Her keened arrows aim'd, as once at mine, 
" Bind up the wound V 9 Nor many a moon had fired 
And quench'd her varying crefcent, ere that home 
Could pleafe no more, unlefs the ftranger maid 
Call'd it of right her own. For fhe was fair 
As pictured Innocence ; and mental grace 
And humble Piety's ethereal flame 
Glow'd in each feature. Soon the enraptured youth 
The impaffion'd fecret told. With downcaft eye 
And burning cheek {he liften'd to his tale ; 



I 



V 



WINTER.— FROST. 115 



Own'd the quick pulfe that trembled at her heart, 
And named it gratitude, but felt it love. 
Weeping for joy the fire their union hail'd ; 
With hands to heaven upraifed his children bleft : 
And fmiling years proclaim'd the bleflmg heard. 

Climb we this brow ; the groves, whofe naked fcenes 
Still have their charms, invite us. In array 
Compact they (land, a various hofl: ; as when 
The Emprefs of the north her fubject tribes 
Combined for war, the much enduring Rufs 
Slow-paced, the Kalmuck glorying in his fpeed, 
The dwarfifli Laplander, Livonian huge, 
Siberia's fhaggy race, Circaffia's fons 
For beauty famed, and Samoeide comprefs'd 
In Nature's rudefi mould. Imperial oak ! 
Hail on thy central lawn, while rang'd around 
In pomp irregular to diftance due 
The fubjecl: woods retire. Of ftrength fupreme 
Thy every feature tells. Thy rugged roots 
Now feize with eagle grafp the earth, now heave 
The incumbent foil. Thy huge and furrow'd trunk, 
With many a rough protuberance embofs'd, 
The lapfe attefts of numerous ages, fled 
With all their generations. Deeply fcorch'd, 
Pierced, and fnapp'd lhort, thy top records a blafl: 
Wing'd with tempefluous lightning, and with rage 

1 2 



Il6 WALKS IN A FOREST. 



Of Alpine ftorm, for lefs had ne'er atchieved 
The mighty boaft, impell'd. Projected wide 
O'er the bare plain with horizontal ftretch, 
Thy arms enormous, girt with wither'd leaves, 
And tufted ftill with miftletoe, no more 
By Druid hands and golden fickle cropt, 
Rear their abrupt contortions ; and uphold 
With firm fupport the thickly- woven fpray. 
Defect: of ftrength eompenfating with grace, 
Behold the fhapely afh from yonder group 
Advance : the ftem, with mofly broidure dark, 
Its flowing line prolongs ; in airy fweep 
Curve above curve the carelefs branches wave, 
In beauty's facile bend then upward turn, 
Studded with fable gems, gems loth to yield 
The leaves they fhroud to April's fickle gale* 
Behold the birch in mimic forrow droop, 
With filver mantle torn, and wait the call 
Of Spring in many a lucid rill to pour 
Ne&arean tears. Behold the fable yew 
In ever- during armour frown, and vaunt 
Its boughs elaftic, once of Albion deem'd, 
What thou art now, imperial oak, the pride 
And bulwark, when her fons, at Freedom's nod, 
On Kent's white cliffs and Cumbrian hills array'd, 
Drew the long bow, and pointed (hafts repell'd 



WINTER. — FROST. II7 

Invading Gaul, and Caledonia's rage. 
Nor lefs its wintry honours unimpaired 
The ivy boafts : not as when freakt by art 
With motley tints it decorates the wall 
Or painted fummer-houfe, or trim alcove : 
But o'er its native thicket wanders wide, 
Dark-robed ; and round the thorn's imprifon'd trunk 
Twifting in hairy volumes, fpreads its veil, 
And loads the boughs with verdure not their own. 
But foremoft of the troop whofe hardy files 
Clofe ranged, thy wrath, defpoiling Autumn, fcorn, 
The holly glows ; in fummer's gaudy bower 
Dull and unnoticed ; now, when winter's voice 
Roars through the wood, with native coral bright, 
And armed leaves ; as virtues in thy glare, 
Profperity, long torpid and unfeen, 
When Fortune rolls her adverfe waves, break forth, 
Refulgent. Now a folitary cone 
On pale gray trunk it raifes : now combines 
Its crowded tops and intermingling Hems 
In focial groups : now ftretches o'er the hills 
In woods continuous, with noclurnal gloom 
Still dufky, fave where through fome narrow cleft 
The prying ray fteals entrance ; or a fliower 
Of fplendid atoms twinkles in the fun, 
While the keen thrufli the berried twig invades, 

■ 3 



1 18 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Or from the rimy boughs the ringdove breaks. 
Clofe crowding to the roots the foxglove fhuns 
The peafant's weighty tread ; and rears its (terns, 
Summer's brown reliques, late with pendent, bells 
Reddening the wild, now wither'd and forlorn, 
Fringed with dry fragments ruftling in the breeze. 
Thus o'er the warrior's urn while Victory bends 
In monumental woe, his mighty lance 
Sordid with duft, and blunt with cankering age, 
High on the wall mid tatter'd enfigns hangs, 
And mouldering trophies of its paft renown. 

Why gleams the axe ? Why falls the verdant branch ? 
Falls it with emblematic green to deck 
The fane, or in the cheerful window twined 
The village grace ; while man adoring learns 
The wonders of his Saviour's birth, or hails 
With feftal gratitude the newborn year ? 
Hark ! louder ftill the invaded woodlands groan ; 
And ampler defolation ftrews the ground. 
Call'd by the well-known echoes, that announce 
To every herd throughout the adjacent lawns 
Scatter'd the hour of food, when fylvan fpoils 
The fhrivel'd herbage of the plain fupply, 
Lo the deer hafte ; as when at farmyard gate 
The noontide bell, fwung long, and tinkling far, 
The peafant bands expeding due repaft 






WINTER. FROST. II9 

Summons from many a field. The prickly leaves 
Fearlefs they crop ; then feize the {lender (hoots ; 
Then from the firmer branches flrip the rind, 
Not doom'd the fchoolboy's vifcous rods to arm, 
And fnare the antient tenants of the made. 
Hither, ye children of the cot, repair ; 
The herds have browfed their fill ; the fpoil is yours. 
In thought even now I hear your bufy tongues : 
I fee your ruddy cheeks ftill deeper dy'd 
By the keen air : I fee your purple hands 
Drag the forfaken boughs : I fee you bend 
All playful o'er the evening hearth, and rub 
The fmarting eyeball, as ye watch the fmoke 
Eurft forth in puffs ; or touch the (learning rind 
With timorous finger oft and ofc withdrawn ; 
While foamy fap through every crevice boils, 
And hiffes in the half-extinguim'd fire. 

Whether, (till green, with leafy guard the boughs 
Encircled rife, or bleak with horrent fpray 
Shiver in naked ranks, alike o'er all 
Winter his petrifying fceptre waves ; 
Hurls from her throne the Vegetative Power; 
Chains in its harden 'd rind the trunk ; with cry 
Terrific makes the branches ; in the bud 
Seals up the leaflet ; and in every vein 
Curdles the ftagnant fap. Yet at thy name, 

14 



120 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

■*—■—■ — — — — ,i , ■ » 

King of the tempefts, though through all her realms 

Creation fhudders, and her feebler tribes 

Torpid and whelm'd in deathlike fleep furveys ; 

Time's active ftrength nor flags nor {lumbers : Time, 

Numb'd by no froft, retarded by no ftorm, 

Still fpeeds his never- varied courfe, ftill fvvells 

With days and months and years his journey'd (lore. 

Nor fhall his hafte be flacken'd, till he gains 

The peak of that vaft mountain, up whofe fteeps 

Straining for ages he has toiFd ; and treads 

Unconfcious on the brink of the abyfs, 

Thy gulph, Eternity, foredoom'd his grave, 

Takes one ftep more, and is for ever loft. 

Thus when its facred reft the Sabbath breathes, 

Labour's tired hand, the unyoked ox, the earth 

Safe from the fhare, repofes ; in the port 

Thy din, clofe anchoring Commerce, ftuns no more ; 

Mute is the empty mart ; unheard the rage 

Of pleaders ; Juftice, with relenting brow, 

Sheathes on the hallowed morn her fword ; a paufe, 

A folemn paufe, all nature feems to feel, 

Save in the frowning camp. War knows no reft ; 

War owns no fabbath ; War, with impious toil 

Unfpent, with blood unfated, to the fiends 

Of vengeance ftill rebellows, ftill purfues 

His work of death; nor paufes, nor relents, 

For laws divine, or fight of human woe* 



WINTER. FROST. 121 

Sunk in the vale, whofe concave depth receives 
The waters draining from thefe fhelvy banks 
When the fliower beats, yon pool with pallid gleam 
Betrays its icy covering. From the glade 
Iffuing in penfive &\e> and moving flow, 
The cattle, all unwitting of the change, 
To quench their cuftomary third advance. 
With wondering flare and fruitlefs fearch they trace 
The foiid margin : now bend low the head 
In act to drink ; now with faflidious nofe 
SnufEng the marble floor, and breathing loud, 
From the cold touch withdraw. Awhile they fland 
In difappointment mute ; with ponderous feet 
Then bruife the furface : to each ftroke the woods 
Reply ; forth gufhes the imprifon'd wave 

So when thy keel, adventurous Monk*, had plow'd 
The Arctic flreight ; when on the beach, convulfed 



* Captain Monk was difpatched in the year 1619 by Chrif- 
tian IV. king of Denmark, to attempt the difcovcry of a north- 
eaft pafiage to China. He wintered on the more of Hudfcn's 
Bay; and relates that the cold was fo intenfe, that neither beer, 
wine, nor brandy could refift it; but were frozen up, and the 
veffels which contained them were fplit into pieces: and that, 
before they could ufe the liquors, they were obliged to hew them 
with hatchets, and diflblve them by fire. The ciaflical reader will 
recollect Virgil's defcriptior of a Scythian winter : 

— -caeduntque fecuribus humida vina. 



122 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

With fhock of floating ifles and driving cliffs 
Rear'd in pellucid adamant, thy crew 
Liftening the cram their wintry dwelling raifed ; 
Nor juice of grape by fouthern funs matured, 
Nor fierce Geneva with internal fire 
Ardent the petrifying blaft withftood. 
The expanding veffel roar'd. Protruded pale 
From the ftaved ends the pillar'd ice amazed 
The thirfty mariners. The glaffy draught 
Eager they hew with axes, crufh with bars, 
Shiver with hammers, and o'er piny boughs 
Heap'd high the fragments in the caldron pile. 
Quick moves the hand, the labouring bellows pant ; 
The cheer'd flame glows beneath the brazen cave ; 
On its hot fides the round drops hifs ; the flood 
Slow-rifing fimmers ; o'er the finking mafs 
Throng'd in clofe circle gleaming faces hang, 
And half devour it with impatient eyes. 

Through Winter's fylvan realms in devious courfe 
Thus rove our fteps. We linger, pleafed to note 
His mein peculiar. Deem we then the face 
Of changeful feafons varied but to charm 
The gazing eye, and foothe the vacant mind I 
Say, is not Nature's ample tome difplay'd, 
Even to the carelefs wanderer in the field, 
With loftier purpofe ? Wifdom's dictates pure, 



WINTER. FROST. 123 

Themes of momentous import, character'd 
By more than human finger, every page 
Difclofes. He, who form'd this beauteous globe 
So fair, amid her brighteft fcenes hath hung 
Fit emblems of a perifhable world ; 
And graved on tablets he that runs may read 
Your fickle date, ye fublunary joys. 
The buds doth Spring unfold, and, thick as dew 
Spangling the grafs, the purple bloom difFufe ? 
Comes a chill blight, and bids the fanguine youth 
Read in its ravages a lore that tells 
Of fruftrate plans, and hope indulged in vain. 
Do Summer funs the mead with herbage load, 
And tinge the ripening year ? With fudden rage 
The thunderftorm defcends : the river fwells 
Impatient, leaps the mound ; and, while the waves 
Devour the promifed harveft, calls on Thee, 
O Man, to tremble for thy daily bread. 
The faded leaves doth Autumn fcatter wide ; 
■ Or Winter rend the defolated boughs, 
And lay the fathers of the foreft low ? 
Child of the duft, attend ! To thee they cry, 
Each from his whirlwind, " Earth is not thy home." 
They bid thee feek, nor hopelefs deem the toil, 
While ftrength Divine thy confcious weaknefs aids, 
A more enduring dwelling-place ; the joys 



124 WALKS IN A FOREST. 

Unutterable, which nor eye hath feen, 

Nor ear hath heard, nor heart of man * conceived ; 

Joys which in worlds to holy peace confign'd, 

Empyreal realms, Omnipotence prepares 

For thofe who love their God : joys then to ope 

Their (lores, when from the Judge's face, as dew 

Shrinks from the fun, this earth, thefe heavens, are 

fledf; 
And all the palm-crown'd fons of holinefs, 
With garments wauVd in their Redeemer's blood J, 
Shout their hofannas round his throne ; and, join'd 
With angels, and to angels equal made, 
Bathe in the fount of ever-during blifs. 

Do Seafons teach in vain ? Doth Nature's voice 
Sound in dull ears ? Has Truth, difclofed from heaven, 
With fruitlefs beams on Nature's volume pour'd 
New radiance ; and her facred fhafts beheld 
Bound unimpreflive from the callous heart ? 
Tremble, infenfate triflers ! Tremble, mourn, 
O race obdurate ! Ye that flight the love, 
That mock the vengeance of eternal Power : 
Love, on whofe wonders raptured Angels gaze ; 
Vengeance, in flames to ihuddering Fiends reveal'd I 
What yet remains ? The hour, that ends the joys 



* i Cor. H. 9. f Rev, xx. 1 1. J Rev. vii, 14. 






WIKTER. FR03T. 125 

And wakes the throbs of guilt ; the hour, that cries, 
Y Trial is pad, and Judgement reigns ;" the hour, 
That bids accufing Memory barb her darts ; 
That brings the fruitlefs figh, the confcious pang, 
Of ruin felf-induced, and mercy loft 
For ever, the blank horrors of defpair ! 

So, warn'd of God, from cities long grown deaf 
To facred exhortation to the depth 
Of mountain woods his fons the Patriarch led. 
There with long-drawn and wide-extended line 
He flretch'd the mighty keel and curved the ribs 
Of that capacious veffel, doom'd to fave 
The wrecks of nature. Oft would gathering crowds 
With ftupid gaze the growing fabric watch, 
Or point the taunting finger. He meanwhile, 
Year after year, untired the tafk purfued ; 
Till wonder ceafed to mark his toil, nor fcorn 
Deign'd to deride him more. One morn, the heavens 
Grew dark with wings ; earth with unnumber'd fteps 
Sounded ; bird, beaft, in long proceffion fought 
Their deftined refuge. With his kindred train 
The builder next afcended. From the gloom 
Of congregating clouds put forth, a Hand * 



* " They went in unto Noah into the ark — and the Lord /hut 
f* him in." Gen. vii. 15, 16. 



126 WALKS IN A FOREST. 



The entrance clofed. Then darknefs cover'd all, 
Deathlike, unfunn'd, as though primeval night 
Refumed her empire. Torrents from the fkies 
Plunged prone in folid downfall. Earth her depths 
Burft. Thronging on the fummits of the hills, 
As feamen crowded on the mainmaft's top 
While at each billow deeper finks the fhip 
And deeper, nations their defpairing eyes 
Roll'd round ; from every furge in lefTening orb 
Shrunk; their wild arms uplifted; ftretch'd their necks 
Above the rifmg waves, and fhriek'd their Jaft. 
Father of earth and heaven, Almighty Lord, 
Whofe fpan confines infinity *, whofe eye 
Surveys eternal ages at a glance ; 
How long, in crowding millions round thy throne 
On balanced wings while fpirits pure thy nod 
Await, in blifs moil bleffed when Thou deign'ft 
To fpeak thy mandate, and their fervice ufe ; 
How long fhall man with cold reluctant heart 
Ponder the truths thy word, thy works, declare ? 
Yet here, even here, in this apoftate vale 
Still Thou haft many fervants. But afar 
From thy abode the vain, the felfifh throng 



■wild uproar 



Stood ruled, ftood vaft Infinitude confined. Milton, 



. 



WINTER. FROST. 127 



On Folly's glittering ftream fecurely floats, 

Or toils through ftorms for honour, power, or gold. 

Thou art not in their thoughts, nor in their ways. 

This to his pleafure turns, this to his farm, 

That to his merchandife. The globe rolls round ; 

And ftill another and another Spring 

Beholds the chafers urge the blind purfuit, 

Nearer, yet nearer, to the gloom that hangs 

In mifty volumes on the horizon's verge, 

And hides the gulf wide-yawning for its prey. 

Meanwhile they feaft, they dance ; the jocund harp 

Rings at their board ; the viol, tabret, horn, 

And lute fymphonious to the choral lay, 

Pour the full tide of harmony ; but Thee 

They flight, nor mark the wonders of thy hand ! 

Yet name they not their God ? — Whatname they more? 

Thy holy name the town, the country hears 

In ceafelefs repetition ; day and night, 

Bufmefs and leifure, indigence and wealth, 

, All hours, all places hear thy holy name. 

< Strange to the heart, why dwells it on the tongue ? 
To round a period with fonorous clofe ; 
To court the fool's applaufe by daring Thee ; 

; To tell the paffing impulfe of furprife : 
To vent the fumes of difappointed hope ; 
To filence doubt, that fcans the uncertain tale ; 



12$ 


/' 

WALKS IN 


A FOREST. 




To fwell the evening roar 
When wine unchains the ] 
To arm the curfe that for 


of impious mirth, 
proud blafphemer's 
a word, a look, 


j°y; 



To realms of endlefs woe a brother hurls, 
Stamp'd with thy image, nurtured by thy love* 
Father of all, yet fpare ! Thine arm extend 
Tn mercy, not in judgement : loofe the bonds 
Thou only canft unlock, bonds firm as links 
Of adamant, that gird the flaves of guilt. 
Pierce the deaf ear, the fightlefs eyeball cleanfe, 
The dull mind quicken, melt the obdurate heart, 
Teach the awaken'd foul with kindling joy 
In all that air and earth and fea difplay, 
Through each returning feafon, to behold 
Thee, the great Author : mid the changing fcenes 
And varying cares of life bid her on Thee 
Fix her fupreme regard, thy will explore, 
Revere thy counfels, thy behefts obey ! 



THE END. 



Printed by A, Strahan, Printers Street, London. 

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